HE lived in the same diocese, in a solitary hut, made of wood in
trellis, like windows, says Theodoret,[1] exposed to all the severities
of the weather. He was clothed with the skins of wild beasts, and by
conversing continually with God, he attained to an eminent degree of
wisdom, and knowledge of heavenly things. He left his wooden prison by
the order of the patriarch of Antioch, giving a proof of his humility by
his ready obedience. He studied to imitate all the practices of penance,
which all the other solitaries of those parts exercised, though of a
tender constitution himself. The fervor of his soul, and the fire of
divine love, supported him under his incredible labors {445} though his
body was weak and infirm. It is sloth that makes us so often allege a
pretended weakness of constitution, in the practice of penance and the
exercises of devotion, which courage and fervor would not even feel. See
Theodoret, Phil. c. 22, t. 3, p. 868, and c. 27.
Footnotes:
1. This passage of Theodoret shows, that the windows of the ancients
were made of trellis or wicker before the invention of glass; though
not universally; for in the ruins of Herculaneum, near Portichi were
found windows of a diaphanous thin slate, such as the rich in Rome
sometimes used.