Hilary of Arles, in his Sermon on the Life of *Honoratus (founder of Lérins and bishop of Arles, ob. 429/30, S00418), argues that miracles were unnecessary for someone of Honoratus' holiness. Written in Latin at Arles, c. 430.
E06098
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Hilary of Arles, Sermon on the Life of Saint Honoratus (Sermo de vita sancti Honorati) 37
For an overview of the Sermon on the Life of Saint Honoratus, see E06026.
Towards the end of the Sermon, after describing Honoratus' death and funeral (§ 35) and reflecting on how Honoratus prepared Hilary to succeed him as bishop (§ 36), Hilary makes the following address to Honoratus.
O magna et inclyta, Honorate, tua gloria! Non indiguit meritum tuum signis probari: ipsa enim conversatio tua plena virtutibus et admirationis novitate praecelsa, perpetuum quoddam signum ministravit. Multa quidem tibi divinitus signorum specie indulta novimus, quicumque propius adsistebamus; sed in his tu minimam tui partem conputabas, maiusque tibi gaudium erat, quod merita et virtutes tuas Deus scriberet, quam quod signa homines notarent. Et tamen quod esse maius virtutis signum potest quam signa fugere et occultare virtutes? Et vere tam familiaris quodammodo oratio tua Christi auribus erat, ut enixissimis precibus inpetratum putem, ne virtutem tuam signa clamarent.
'O Honoratus, great and renowned is your glory! Your merit did not need to be proved by signs: your way of life itself, full of virtues and uplifted by new kinds of wonder, offered a kind of perpetual sign. We know that many things were divinely granted to you in the appearance of signs, we who stood close by you; but you counted the least part of yourself in these, and you had greater joy that God recorded your merits and virtues than that human beings took note of signs. And yet what is capable of being a greater sign of virtue than to flee from signs and conceal virtues? And truly your prayer was somehow so familiar to the ears of Christ that – I think – it was obtained through your most strenuous prayers that signs should not proclaim your virtue.'
Text: Cavallin 1952, 75-6.
Translation: David Lambert.
Observed scarcity/absence of miracles
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Theorising on SanctityConsiderations about the nature of miracles
Source
The Sermon on the Life of Honoratus was delivered on an early anniversary, probably the first, of the death of Honoratus (ob. 429 or 430), the founder of the monastery of Lérins and, in the last two years of his life, bishop of Arles (PCBE 4, 'Honoratus 1'). The author of the Sermon was Hilary (401-449), Honoratus' successor as bishop, who was also his relative and had been his protégé at both Lérins and Arles (PCBE 4, 'Hilarius 3').For full discussion of the Sermon on the Life of Honoratus and bibliography, see its overview entry: E06026.
Discussion
Hilary attributes only two miracles to Honoratus in the Sermon, the expulsion of snakes from the island of Lérins and the bringing forth of a spring of fresh water there, both of which are said to have taken place when Honoratus settled on Lérins, many years before he became bishop of Arles (see E06073). This passage suggests that Hilary felt some anxiety that this lack of miracles (as compared with e.g. Martin of Tours) might cast some doubt on Honoratus' holiness. His defence is to claim that that in fact Honoratus had performed other miracles, but regarded them as unimportant and did not make them known, and then to suggest that, out of humility, Honoratus had specifically prayed not to be granted miracles (Hilary’s words imply that this is speculation on his part, not something he had been told by Honoratus).The precise words used by Hilary merit some attention. Throughout the passage he contrasts virtus, the quality possessed by Honoratus, with signa ('signs', evidently indicating miracles), the latter clearly being considered by some (wrongly in Hilary's view) to be required as proof of the former. The connotations of virtus in Christian Latin are not easy to render in English, especially in one word, without the risk of importing interpretations that may not represent the author's meaning. In early medieval Latin, it could often simply be used as a synonym for 'miracle', but the contrast made by Hilary between virtus and signa argues against this being the meaning here. It has therefore been translated 'virtue', but this should probably be understood more in the sense 'spiritual power' than the purely moral quality that the word denotes in everyday English.
Though it is not mentioned by Hilary, a miracle by Honoratus as bishop of Arles is related in another early source. A sermon which is anonymous, but gives every appearance of dating from soon after Honoratus' lifetime, describes how he participated in the miraculous saving of people who fell into the river Rhône when a bridge of boats broke in Arles (E05724): the main credit for the miracle is given to the martyr and patron saint of Arles, *Genesius (S00263), but it is Honoratus who invokes his assistance. For whatever reason, Hilary says nothing about this incident.
Bibliography
Edition:Cavallin, S., Vitae sanctorum Honorati et Hilarii episcoporum Arelatensium (Lund, 1952), 49-78.
David Lambert
08/03/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00438 | Honoratus, founder of Lérins and bishop of Arles, ob. 429/30 | Honoratus | Certain |
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