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From Egypt, he immigrated to Gaul and retired in the ruins of an old tower near [[w:Villefranche-sur-Mer|Villefranche-sur-Mer]], a few miles east of [[w:Nice|Nice]] in [[w:Provence|Provence]], on the peninsula of [[w:Cap Ferrat|Cap Ferrat]]. The peninsula is still called after him as ''' ''Cap-Saint-Hospice'' ''' or ''' ''Cap-Saint-Sospis'' '''.
To increase his [[asceticism]] he girded himself with an iron chain, in [[penance ]] for the many [[Sin|sins]] he [[Confession|confessed]] to have committed, and lived only on bread and dates.<ref name="SYNAXARION"/><ref name="SMITH-WACE"/><ref>Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). ''[http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/213.html May 21 - St. Hospitius, or Sospis, Recluse in Provence].'' The Lives of the Saints. Volume V: May. 1866. (Bartleby.com).</ref> During [[Great Lent|Lent]] he redoubled his austerities, and, in order to conform his life more closely to that of the [[Anchorite|anchorites]] of Egypt, ate nothing but root vegetables.<ref name="PICTORIAL"/>
He foretold the ravages which the Lombards would make in 575 in Gaul,<ref group="note">In 574 and 575 the [[w:Lombards|Lombards]] invaded Provence, then part of the [[w:Kingdom of Burgundy|Kingdom of Burgundy]] of the Merovingian [[w:Guntram|Guntram]].</ref> and advised the religious of a nearby monastery to flee to at once. They said they could not resign themselves to abandon him, but he replied that although the invaders would insult him, they would not kill him. When the barbarians came to the tower in which Hospitius lived, on seeing the chain with which he was bound, they mistook him for a criminal who was imprisoned there. When they questioned him, he acknowledged that he was indeed a great sinner and unworthy to live, whereupon one of the soldiers lifted his sword to strike him. God, however, did not desert His faithful servant; the soldier’s arm stiffened and became numb. It was not until Hospitius made the [[Sign of the Cross|sign of the cross]] over it that he recovered the use of it. This soldier embraced [[Introduction to Orthodox Christianity|Christianity]], renounced the world and spent the rest of his days in serving God.<ref name="PICTORIAL"/>
