Bishop and Doctor of the Church (d. ca. 368)
His life
+ Hilary was born into a noble family in Poitiers, France. Although he was raised as a pagan his philosophical inquiries and study of Sacred Scripture led him to the Christian Faith.
+ Appointed bishop of Poitiers in 353, Hilary spent considerable time and energy combatting the Arian heresy, which denied the Divinity of Jesus. While a very mild-mannered and agreeable person, he did not hesitate to use severe language in proving the Emperor Constantius for his support of Arianism.
+ The outraged emperor exiled Hilary as punishment for his criticism. Hilary spent those years in exile writing in defense of the Faith and he became one of more influential churchmen of his day.
+ Saint Hilary eventually returned to Poitiers and died there around 368. He has traditionally been invoked for protection against snakebites and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1851.
For prayer and reflection
“In the controversy with the Arians, who considered Jesus the Son of God to be an excellent human creature but only human, Hilary devoted his whole life to defending faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ, Son of God and God as the Father who generated him from eternity.”—Pope Benedict XVI
Spiritual bonus
On this day we also remember Blessed Ida of Argensolles, the abbess of the Cistercian monastery of Argensolles, Soissons, France. She died in 1226 and was honored for her holiness in the years following her death.
Prayer
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that we may rightly understand and truthfully profess
the divinity of your Son,
which the Bishop Saint Hilary taught with such constancy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Father Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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