ST. irONOKA'lT'S, 



St. Tlonoratus is said to have comedf a distinguished 

 t'aniih' frnm nortlieni Gaul. ^Mlile still \oung he retired 

 til this retreat. His example \\as l()llo\\ed by others. 

 St. EuchariuH, a I'rovencal nobleman, l(.)rd of Theoule and 

 of JNIandelieu, imitated him, but he did not renounce the 

 world as earl\- in life as did St. Ilonoratiis. He must have 

 experienced mun\- a bitter sorrow. For, as I understand 

 trom the histor^ of the Diocese of Frejus, which the Abbe 

 Disdier has published, St. Euchariiis \\:as married and had 

 two sons and tw(i dauglitcrs. When death robbed liim of 

 his wife, he entrusted the education Of his son.s to St. 

 Ililarius and retired, iirst to one of the lies de Lerins. 

 and then to tlie hermitage of Cap Roux. Here Ire li\ed 

 in a cave which was still more inaccessible than that of 

 St. Honoratus. Thus "isolated, and devoting himsell to 

 silence and seclusion, lie had neither the desire nor tire 

 opportunity' to sin". Here he \vrote a devout treatise in 

 praise of solitude. IJut he was not destined to end liis life 

 in this retreat. En\o\s from the communit\' of L^'onsfetclied 

 him awa\- to become their Archbisliop. It is difficult now- 

 a-da\ s to realise the spirit of those dcNout ascetics, ^\hose 

 ideal of perfection was not the fulfilment of the ordinary 

 duties of life, but the crushing of all desires and appetites. 

 ^'et times were different then, and the world was so sad 

 that some wished to renounce it. j\hnn a man of noble 

 disposition might consider that his ethical ideal could not 

 be realised under such social conditions, and souglrt refuge 

 therefore in renunciation. Such strenuous idealism — such 

 self sacrifice, cf)mpels our admiration. A later hermit of 

 the hills of Cap Roux, Laurentius Bonhomnie, appeals to 



