Saint Hilary of Poitiers:

Feast day : 13 January

Today the Church celebrates the feast of Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church and popularly acknowledged as the ‘Athanasius of the West’. He lived during the period 310-367 and was a strong defender of the Church against the Arian heresy. His literary contributions, through which he strongly upheld the Divinity of Christ as Son of God, became highly influential writings that helped shape the faith of many. He was honoured with the title ‘Doctor of the Church’ by Pope Pius IX in the year 1851.

Early life:

Saint Hilary was born into a wealthy pagan family in Poitiers and was raised as a pagan. He was well educated in pagan teachings and Greek. When he grew of age, he began to examine the teachings of pagan philosophers in more detail and realised that they were incomplete and false and consequently rejected them. He was ardently searching to learn more about God and when one of his companions introduced to him the Holy Scriptures, he found the Divine truth and the answers to many of his questions on God. In the Old Testament he found God’s self description “I AM Who AM’ (Exodus 3:14) which revealed the supreme dominion of God and in the New Testament he found the Son of God who was the Word of God, co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father (John 1:1-4). He embraced Christianity following his discovery of the Truth and was filled with a zeal to reveal the Truth to all. He was a married man who had a wife and a daughter named Abra who later became Saint Abra.

Vocational life:

In the year 353, he was ordained bishop by popular acclaim. The people of Poitiers loved him for his holiness and piety. From the time of his ordination as bishop, he chose to live his remaining life in perpetual continency. It was during his time as Bishop that the threat of the Arian heresy reached its peak. The Arian heresy denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, equal to and consubstantial with the Father. Like Saint Athanasius in the East, Saint Hilary was the chosen instrument of God to defend the Church against such false teachings in the West. Saint Hilary opposed Saturninus, the bishop of Arles who joined in with the efforts of the Emperor Constantius to force the Churches in the West to embrace Arianism. Though Saturninus was the Metropolitan of all the bishops and way above Saint Hilary in rank and power, Saint Hilary fearlessly opposed his attempts to convince the bishops to agree on the Arian creed. Saturninus obtained an order from the Emperor, exiling Saint Hilary without any hearing to Phrygia. Consequently, Saint Hilary spent four years in exile, from 356-360.

During his exile he kept in touch with his bishops through letters and collected information concerning the Church councils and creeds. He wrote ‘De Synodis’ a detailed book on the Arian controversy in the year 358. He also travelled extensively and gathered much information about Arianism in the East. It was during 359-360 that he composed one of his greatest works, the ‘De Trinitate ‘ or ‘On the Trinity’ which became his theological masterpiece. It was his earnest attempt to explain the truth on the Holy Trinity and the Divinity of Christ to men who had gone astray through false teachings of the Arians.

Meanwhile in the second Synod of Sirmium, Hosius, Bishop of Cordova was forced to sign an Arian creed and it was in the same Synod that a temporary condemnation of Saint Athanasius was approved by the then Pope Liberius. In 359 at the Councils of Rimini in the West and Seleucia in the East, most of the Bishops agreed to the heretical Arian creed. A synod in Gaul, convoked at the instance of Saint Hilary condemned the councils of Rimini. Saturninus was eventually excommunicated and deposed for his heresy and other crimes. The death of Constantius put an end to the Arian heresy.

He later travelled to Milan in 364. There he impeached Auxentius, the Arian bishop of Milan. In a public debate, Auxentius confessed that Christ is the true God. Saint Hilary knew he was a hypocrite. He left Milan on the command of the Emperor Valentinian.

Death and Sainthood:

Saint Hilary died at Poitiers in the year 367. In 1851, Pope Pius IX recognised his valuable literary contributions that helped in preserving the faith of many and awarded him the title Doctor of the Church.