No land, however fertile, may now boast itself in comparison with the land of the desert. Is some land rich in crops? In this above all is born that wheat which satisfies the hungry with its fatness. Is another glad with teeming vineyards? In this above all is brought forth that wine which gladdens well the heart of man. Is another excelling in pastures? In this most healthfully feed those sheep of which it is said, 'Feed my sheep.' Is another painted with blooming flowers? In this above all shines that true flower of the field and lily of the valleys. Lastly, is another exulting in beautiful metals, and another tawny with its gold? In this gleam the varied splendors of stones with quivering light.
Thus this land, greater than each land for each thing, far surpasses all in all good things. 41. Rightly therefore have you, O venerable land, proved yourself either with the saints set within you, or not far removed from you, either long inhabited or to be desired, because for all the goods of Him you are fruitful, in whom all things are held. You require this cultivator who tills his own land, not who tills yours; you, barren of the vices of those who inhabit you, you, fruitful in virtues. Whoever has sought the familiar friendship of the saints with you has found God; whoever has cultivated you has found Christ in you. He who dwells in you rejoices in the Lord his dweller, and is himself both your possessor and a divine possession; whoever has not fled your dwelling has himself been made the temple of God.
42. Indeed I owe reverence to all the places of the desert which are made glorious by the retreat of the pious, yet with especial honor do I embrace my own Lérins, which, from the wrecks of the stormy world poured out upon her, receives in her most loving arms those coming from it, and gently leads those scorched by the heat of the age beneath her shades, that there, panting, they may take up the spirit again beneath that inner shade of the Lord. Abounding with waters, green with herbs, gleaming with flowers, delightful to the sight and to the smell, she shows herself to those possessing her as the paradise they shall possess; worthy that she should be founded in heavenly disciplines by Honoratus her author, who, in such institutions, obtained so great a father, radiant with the vigor and countenance of the apostolic spirit; worthy that, receiving him, she should so send him forth;
worthy that she should both nourish most excellent monks and bring forth priests worthy to be sought after. She now holds his successor, Maximus by name, illustrious because after him he deserved to be enrolled; she had Lupus of revered name, who recalled to us that wolf of the tribe of Benjamin; she had his own brother Vincentius, a gem conspicuous in inner splendor; she now possesses Caprasius, venerable in gravity, equal to the ancient saints; she now has those holy old men who, in their separate cells, brought the Egyptian Fathers into our Gauls. 43. What companies of saints, O good Jesus, what assemblies did I behold there! Precious alabasters glowed in them with a sweet ointment; everywhere breathed the odor of life.
They displayed the face of the inner man in the bearing of the outer: bound together by charity, cast down by humility, most gentle in piety, most firm in hope, modest in gait, swift in obedience, silent in meeting, serene in countenance—straightway, by their very contemplation, they show forth a company of angelic quiet. They covet nothing, they desire nothing save Him alone, whom alone, desiring, they covet. While they seek the blessed life, they live blessed, and even while they still strive after it, they already obtain it. And so they wish to be set apart from sinners? They are already set apart. They wish to possess a chaste life? They already possess it. They long to have all their time in the praises of God? They have it. They desire to rejoice in the companies of the saints? They rejoice. They long to enjoy Christ?
They enjoy Him in the Spirit. They yearn to obtain the life of the desert? They obtain it in heart. Thus through the most bountiful grace of Christ they deserve in the present many of those things which they long for in the future; and they grasp the very thing, while they follow the hope. They have no small reward of their labor even in the labor itself, because what shall be the wage is almost already in the work. 44. Restored and inserted into the fellowship of these men, my dearest Hilary, you have conferred very much upon yourself, and very much also upon them, who now rejoice with eager exultation at your return. With these, I beseech you, do not blot out the memory of my sins and of your intercession; with these, I say, to whom I know not whether you yourself have brought more joy or have found greater.
You are now the truer Israel, who behold God with your heart, long since delivered from the darkness of the Egypt of the age, having crossed the saving waters with the enemy submerged, having followed in the desert the kindled fire of faith; the things once bitter you now find sweet through the wood of the cross, you draw from Christ the waters leaping up into eternal life, you feed the inner man with the heavenly bread, in the Gospel you receive the divine voice of thunder; you who are contained with Israel in the desert, shall enter the land of promise with Jesus. Farewell in Christ Jesus our Lord.