Dwelling In The Desert

Hoc igitur eremi habitaculum dicam non immerito quamdam fidei sedem, virtutis arcam, charitatis sacrarium, pietatis thesaurura , justitiae promptuarium. Nam sicut in magna domo pretiosa quaeque claustris obsignata in remotis habentur, ita magnificentia illa sanctorum abditorum eremo, quam difficultatibus suis natura obseravit, deponitur intra quoddam conclave deserti, ne conversationis humanae usu abolescat. Apteque a mundi Domino haec pretiosa divitiarum supellex, in illa mundanae domus parte non solum conditur, verum etiam, cum usus est, ex reconditis promitur. Fuit olim erga eremum cura divinae Providentia: summa et maxima, sed ne nunc quidem parva est. Nam et nunc cum eremi incolis victus divinitus insperata supervenit largitate, quid aliud quam e coelo lapsus defluit? Habent et isti in hac munificentia suum manna, nec minus his Dominus brachii sui opere secreto alimoniam spargit ex abdito. Et cum silicibus perfossis tandem divino munere respondentes e saxis aquae profluunt, quid aliud quam velut Moysi virgae ictu percussa rupe emergunt? Vestimentorum perinde habitus in eremi vastitate degentibus, nunc quoque ecce non deficit, qui dum jugiter gratuito divina provisione succedit, utique succedendo manet. Aluit Dominus in deserto suos quondam, sed et nunc alit; et illos quadraginta annis hos vero quousque anni erunt. Sanctus Eucherius Lugdunensis, De Laude Eremi Source: Migne PL 50.707c-708a

Therefore I say that this little dwelling place of the desert is not without merit the seat of faith and the ark of virtue and the chest of charity and the treasury of piety and the storeroom of righteousness. For as in a great house what is precious is placed in remote and sealed quarters, so it is with the magnificence of the holy dwellings in the desert, which with its difficulties given by nature is arranged as a safe room of the wilderness, lest human conduct ruin it by use. Rightly, then, this precious supply of riches from the Lord which has been withdrawn from the world has not been established in some common part of the house, but when it is needed it is sent forth from its private place. Once by Divine Providence there was great and excellent care for the desert, but even now it is not unknown. Even now when the inhabitants of the desert are overwhelmed with an unhoped for bounty, is it not like something fallen from heaven? Even they by this munificence have their own manna, and the arm of the Lord does not work less in secret to supply them from His sanctuary. And when at last what is hard cracks in response to the Divine gift and water flows out, is it not it emerges as for Moses with the blow of his staff on the rock? 1 Just as those who once dwelt in the vastness of the desert did not lack for garments, so now also there is no lack for the one who continually receives the freely given Divine provision, and remains in receipt of it. The Lord once fed a certain people in the desert, and even now He gives food. Once He provided food for forty years, and now He feeds for as long as they have years. 2 Saint Eucherius of Lyon, In Praise of the Desert 1 Exod 17.1-7 2 Deut 29.5-6