Saint of the Day January 13, 2003
St. Hilary
This staunch defender of the divinity of Christ was a
gentle and courteous man, devoted to writing some of
the greatest theology on the Trinity, and was like his
Master in being labeled a “disturber of the peace.” In
a very troubled period in the Church, his holiness was
lived out in both scholarship and controversy.
Raised a pagan, he was converted to Christianity when
he met his God of nature in the Scriptures. His wife
was still living when he was chosen, against his will,
to be the bishop of Poitiers in France. He was soon
taken up with battling what became the scourge of the
fourth century, Arianism, which denied the divinity of
Christ.
The heresy spread rapidly. St. Jerome said “The world
groaned and marveled to find that it was Arian.” When
Emperor Constantius ordered all the bishops of the
West to sign a condemnation of Athanasius, the great
defender of the faith in the East, Hilary refused and
was banished from France to far off Phrygia.
Eventually he was called the “Athanasius of the West.”
While writing in exile, he was invited by some
semi-Arians (hoping for reconciliation) to a council
the emperor called to counteract the Council of Nicea.
But Hilary predictably defended the Church, and when
he sought public debate with the heretical bishop who
had exiled him, the Arians, dreading the meeting and
its outcome, pleaded with the emperor to send this
troublemaker back home. Hilary was welcomed by his
people.
Love + prayers,
Joseachayan / Jeddah / Saudi Arabia
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