(359 A.D.), which saw the triumph of the "Homoion Party" and the forbidding of all discussion of The Divine Substance. In 360 A.D., Hilary tried unsuccessfully to secure a personal audience with
Constantius, as well as to address The Council which met at
Constantinople in 360 A.D.
When this Council ratified the decisions of
Ariminum and Seleucia, Hilary responded with the bitter
In Constantium, which attacked Emperor Constantius as "Anti-Christ" and "Persecutor of Orthodox Christians". Hilary's urgent and repeated requests for public debates with his opponents, especially with Ursacius and Valens, proved at last so inconvenient that he was sent back to his Diocese, which he appears to have reached about 361 A.D., within a very short time of the accession of Emperor
Julian.
On returning to his Diocese in 361 A.D., Hilary spent most of the first two or three years trying to persuade the local Clergy that the "
Homoion" confession was merely a cover for traditional Arian sub-ordinationism. Thus, a number of Synods in Gaul condemned The Creed promulgated at The
Council of Ariminium (359 A.D.).
In about 360 A.D., or 361 A.D., with Hilary's encouragement,
Martin, the future
Bishop of Tours, founded a
Monastery, at Ligugé in Hilary's Diocese.
Français: Vitrail consacré à cinq saints évêques liés à l' abbatiale, et un roi: St Saturnin
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
In 364 A.D., Hilary extended his efforts once more beyond Gaul. He impeached
Auxentius,
Bishop of Milan, a man high in The Imperial Favour, as heterodox. Emperor
Valentinian I accordingly summoned Hilary to Milan to there maintain his charges. However, the supposed Heretic gave satisfactory answers to all the questions proposed. Hilary denounced Auxentius as a hypocrite, as he himself was ignominiously expelled from Milan. Upon returning home, Hilary, in 365 A.D., published the
Contra Arianos vel Auxentium Mediolanensem liber, describing his unsuccessful efforts against Auxentius. He also (but perhaps at a somewhat earlier date) published the
Contra Constantium Augustum liber, accusing the lately-deceased Emperor as having been The Anti-Christ, a rebel against
God, "a tyrant whose sole object had been to make a gift to the devil of that world for which
Christ had suffered." According to
Jerome, Saint Hilary died in Poitiers
circa 368 A.D.
Recent research has distinguished between Hilary's thoughts before his period of exile in Phrygia under Constantius and the quality of his later major Works. While Hilary closely followed the two great Alexandrians,
Origen and
Athanasius, in exegesis and Christology, respectively, his Work shows many traces of vigorous independent thought.
Among Hilary's earliest Writings, completed some time before his exile in 356 A.D., is his
Commentarius in Evangelium Matthaei, an allegorical exegesis of The First
Gospel. This is the first Latin
Commentary on
Matthew to have survived in its entirety. Hilary's "
Commentary" was strongly influenced by Tertullian and Cyprian, and made use of several Classical writers, including Cicero, Quintilian, Pliny and the Roman historians.
The Church of the former Abbey of Saint-Maixent ,
It contains Stained-Glass Windows showing
Saint Hilary of Poitiers (see, above).
Photo: 31 January 2010.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Nave of the Abbey of Saint-Maixent, France,
which contains Stained-Glass Windows
showing Saint Hilary of Poitiers (see, above).
Photo: 31 January 2010.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Hilary's expositions of The
Psalms,
Tractatus super Psalmos, largely follow
Origen, and were composed some time after Hilary returned from exile in 360 A.D. Since Jerome found the work incomplete, no-one knows whether Hilary originally commented on the whole Psalter. Now extant are the "
Commentaries" on Psalms 1, 2, 9, 13, 14, 51-69, 91, and 118-150.
The third surviving exegetical writing by Hilary is the
Tractatus mysteriorum, preserved in a single Manuscript, first published in 1887.
Because
Augustine cites part of the "Commentary on
Romans" as, "by
Sanctus Hilarius", it has been ascribed by various critics at different times to almost every known Hilary.
Hilary's major theological work was the twelve books, now known as
De Trinitate. This was composed largely during his exile, though perhaps not completed until his return to Gaul in 360 A.D.
showing Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers.
Date: 1493.
Source: Scan from original book.
(Wikimedia Commons)
Another important work is
De synodis, written early in 359 A.D., in preparation for The
Councils of Ariminium and Seleucia.
Various writings comprise Hilary's 'Historical' Works. These include the
Liber II ad Constantium imperatorem, the
Liber in Constantium inperatorem,
Contra Arianos vel Auxentium Mediolanensem liber, and the various documents relating to the Arian controversy in
Fragmenta historica.
Some consider Hilary as the first Latin Christian Hymn-Writer, because Jerome said Hilary produced a "
Liber Hymnorum". Three Hymns are attributed to him, though none are indisputable.
Hilary is the pre-eminent Latin writer of the 4th-Century A.D., (before
Ambrose).
Augustine of Hippo called him "the illustrious Doctor of the Churches", and his Works continued to be highly-influential in later Centuries.
Venantius Fortunatus wrote a
Vita of Hilary, by 550 A.D., but few now consider it reliable. More trustworthy are the notices in
Saint Jerome (
De vir. illus. 100),
Sulpicius Severus (Chron. ii. 39-45) and in Hilary's own Writings. Blessed
Pope Pius IX formally recognised him as
Universae Ecclesiae Doctor in 1851.
English: Pussemange (Belgium). Church of Saint Hilary (1872-1874).
Français: Pussemange (Belgique), l’église Saint-Hilaire (1872-1874).
Deutsch: Pussemange (Belgien), die Sint-Hilarius kirche (1872-1874).
Walon: Pûsmadje (Bèljike), l’églîje Sint-Ilaîre (1872-1874).
Photo: 14 July 2007.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
For English educational and legal institutions, Saint Hilary's Festival lies at the start of The Hilary Term, which begins in January. The name
Hilary Term is given in
Oxford University to The Term, beginning on 7 January, that includes his Feast. Some consider Saint Hilary of Poitiers as The
Patron Saint of
Lawyers. From his Writing, Saint Hilary's symbol came to be three books and a quill pen.
Sulpicius Severus' Vita Sancti Martini led to a cult of Saint Hilary, as well as of
Saint Martin of Tours, which spread early to Western
Britain. The villages of
Saint Hilary, in
Cornwall, England, and
Glamorgan, Wales, and that of
Llanilar, in
Ceredigion, Wales, bear his name.
English: Interior of Sant'Ilario di Poitiers, France.
Italiano: L'autore io, chiesa di s.ilario, bedero valcuvia, libero uso.
Date: 12 January 2010 (original upload date).
Source: Transferred from it.wikipedia; transferred to Commons
Permission: Released into the public domain (by the author).
(Wikimedia Commons)
English: The 15th-Century and 16th-Century
Parish Church of Saint Hilary,
Clohars-Fouesnant, Brittany, France.
Français: Clohars-Fouesnant : l'église
paroissiale Saint-Hilaire (XVe et XVIe siècles).
Photo: 9 August 2012.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
In France, most Dedications to Saint Hilary are West (and North) of The
Massif Central, and the cult in this region eventually extended to
Canada.
In North-West
Italy, the Church of Sant’Ilario, at
Casale Monferrato, was dedicated to Saint Hilary, as early as 380 A.D.
The Church of Saint Hilary-the-Great,
Poitiers, France.
This File: 12 April 2008.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
Saint Hilary.
Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor.
Feast Day 14 January.
Double.
White Vestments.
After having persecuted The Church during the first Centuries, the Christian, but at the same time Heretical, Emperors continued their attacks by supporting Arianism, which denied The Divinity of Christ.
In The Season after Epiphany, when Jesus affirms His Divinity by His teaching and Miracles, the first Saint, whom The Church presents to us, is one of the most intrepid defenders of this fundamental Dogma of Christianity.
Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France, in 352 A.D., (Communion) endowed with great natural and supernatural talent, for "The Lord has filled him with The Spirit of Wisdom and Intelligence" (Introit), fought with his pen and his eloquence against those "who closed their ears to Truth and opened them to fables" (Epistle).
English: Shrine, containing the Relics of Saint Hilary,
in the Crypt of the Church of
Saint Hilary-the-Great,
Poitiers, France.
Deutsch: Saint-Hilaire-de-Poitiers, Reliqienschrein in der Krypta
Photo: August 2008.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)
This "Salt of the Earth", this Light of God's House, would not suffer, under the false excuse of favouring peace and unity, The Salt of True Doctrine to be corrupted or The Light of Truth to be hidden under a bushel.
"Having thus taught the practice of The Commandments, even to the last tittle, he is great in The Kingdom of Heaven" (Gospel), and The Church, which is the Earthly portion of this Kingdom, has, by the voice of Blessed Pope Pius IX, awarded him the Title of Doctor (Collect). He died in 368 A.D.
Let us have recourse to the intercession of Saint Hilary, in order always to be the intrepid defenders of The Divinity of Christ.
Mass: In Médio.
Commemoration: Saint Felix (Priest and Martyr), same day.
