ZEPHYRINUS.: Saint Hilarion. Abbot. Feast Day 21 October.

Saturday, 21 October 2023

Saint Hilarion. Abbot. Feast Day 21 October.

Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Hilarion.
Abbot.
Feast Day 21 October.

Simple.

White Vestments.

English: Saint Hilarion Castle, Kyrenia, Cyprus.
Français: Château Saint Hilarion à Chypre.
Date: 17 September 2005 (original upload date).
Source: Atak
Author: Atak Kara.
(Wikimedia Commons)

After the era of Martyrs, to whom the Church had exclusively reserved the honours of Public Veneration, she began to raise to the Altars the Servants of God, who had distinguished themselves by their heroic virtues, although they had not won the glory of shedding their blood for Jesus Christ.

Saint Hilarion.

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Saint Hilarion, in The East, and Saint Martin, in The West, are at the head of The List of Saints known as “Confessors”. A native of Palestine, Saint Hilarion studied at Alexandria, and, desiring to embrace a more perfect life, he left all to follow Jesus (Gospel).

“The Temptation of Saint Hilarion”.
Artist: Octave Tassaert (1800–1874).
Date: Circa 1857.
Current location: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada.
(Wikimedia Commons)

He heard of Saint Anthony's holiness and went to see him in Egypt. The Saint kept him for two months in order to train him to a life of Penance and Contemplation. He then gave to this boy, of fifteen years of age, a hair-shirt and a garment made of skin, saying: "Persevere to the end, my son, and thy labour shall be rewarded by the delights of Heaven."

Monks' Night Stairs,
Hexham Abbey, Northumberland, England.
The Monks would use The Night Stairs, descending from
their “Dormer’ (Sleeping Quarters), in order to say The Night Office (Matins and Lauds). [Editor: Night Stairs pre-empted the need for Monks to go outside during the night to reach the Church, which, in Mediæval times during Winter, could be extremely "bracing".]
Photo by RoryHenry on Flickr.
Illustration: PINTEREST

Hilarion returned to Palestine and founded Monastic Life there. After having built several Monasteries, for which he made Laws, as Moses had done of old for God's people (Epistle), he retired to the island of Cyprus, to escape the crowd of admirers attracted by his heroic virtues. He died a Holy Death, at the age of eighty, about 372 A.D. Saint Jerome wrote of his life.

Mass: Os justi (Of Abbots).
Commemoration: Saint Ursula, from the Collects Of Several Virgins, Martyrs.