The Twenty-Six Mediæval Cathedrals Of England (Part Five).

 

Peterborough Cathedral.

Photo: 31 July 2014.

Source: Own work.

Attribution: Photo by DAVID ILIFF.

Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Author: Diliff

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

In general, from the time of The Reformation, onwards, apart from necessary repairs so that buildings might remain in use, and the internal adornments of successive generations who wished to be commemorated, there was little building work and only piecemeal restoration.

This situation lasted for about 250 years, with the fabric of many major Cathedrals suffering from neglect. The severity of the problem was demonstrated by the spectacular collapse of the Spire of Chichester Cathedral, which suddenly telescoped in on itself in 1861.[2][4]

By this date, Mediæval architecture was back in fashion. A growing awareness of the value of England’s Mediæval heritage had begun in the Late-18th-Century, leading to some work on a number of the Cathedrals by the architect James Wyatt.

Ripon Cathedral has a “cliff-like” East End, 

typical of English Gothic architecture.

Photo: 30 August 2005 (original Upload date).

Source: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.

Author: Soloist at English Wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

The consciousness accelerated until, in the 1840s, two academic groups, The Oxford Society and The Cambridge Camden Society, both pronounced that the only suitable style in which to design a Church was Gothic.

The critic John Ruskin was an ardent advocate of all things Mediæval and popularised these ideas. The architect Augustus Welby Pugin, who designed mainly for the growing Roman Catholic Church, set himself to recreate not only the structural appearance of Mediæval Churches, but also the richly-decorated and colourful interiors that had been almost entirely lost, existing only as a painted Screen here and there, a few tiled floors, such as those at Winchester and Canterbury and the intricate painted Wooden Ceiling of Peterborough Cathedral.[5][9]

The Victorian era saw the restoration of all of England’s Cathedrals and remaining major Abbey Churches. Some buildings left incomplete were completed at this time and the greater part of existent Church furniture, fittings and Stained-Glass dates from this period.

Lichfield Cathedral.

Postcard, 1888.

This File: 9 January 2013.

User: Hogweard

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The architects included:

George Gilbert Scott;

John Loughborough Pearson;

George Frederick Bodley;

Arthur Blomfield;

George Edmund Street.[4][5]

The twenty-six Cathedrals described in this Article are:

Bristol;
Canterbury;
Carlisle;
Chester;
Chichester;
Durham;
Ely;
Exeter;
Gloucester;
Hereford;
Lichfield;
Lincoln;
Manchester;
Norwich;
Oxford;
Peterborough;
Ripon;
Rochester;
Saint Alban’s;
Salisbury;
Southwark;
Southwell;
Wells;
Winchester;
Worcester;
York.

In addition, there is reference to Westminster Abbey 

and the ancient Cathedral of London, generally known 

as Old St. Paul’s.

PART SIX FOLLOWS.

“The Devil Hates The Ancient Mass. He Hates It Because It Is The Perfect Reformulation Of All The Teachings Of The Church” — Dr. Von Hildebrand.

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand (R.I.P.).

Illustration: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

Text from: NEW LITURGICAL MOVEMENT

By: Gregory Dipippo.

Shortly after Midnight, Friday, 14 January 2022, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, one of the great Defenders of Tradition in The Catholic Church in all its aspects, including The Traditional Liturgy, passed away at the age of ninety-eight.

A great scholar, philosopher and theologian in her own right, she was also dedicated to preserving the legacy of her husband, Dietrich von Hildebrand, whom Pope Pius XII once called a “Twentieth-Century Doctor of The Church.”

She had been retired from teaching since 1984, but continued to write and speak; her most recent book was published in 2014.

A great Soul. And such a Lady.

From an interview which she gave to The Latin Mass Magazine in 2001:

The Latin Mass Magazine:

“There are those critics of The Ancient Latin Mass who point out that the crisis in The Church developed at a time when The Mass was offered throughout the World. Why should we then think its revival is intrinsic to the solution ?”

Dr. Alice von Hildebrand:

“The devil hates The Ancient Mass. He hates it because it is the most perfect reformulation of all the teachings of The Church.

“It was my husband who gave me this insight about The Mass. The problem that ushered in the present crisis was not The Traditional Mass. The problem was that Priests who offered it had already lost the sense of the supernatural and the transcendent.

“They rushed through the Prayers, they mumbled and didn’t enunciate them. That is a sign that they had brought to The Mass their growing Secularism. The Ancient Mass does not abide irreverence, and that was why so many Priests were just as happy to see it go.”

Aelred Of Rievaulx. (Part Four).

Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire.

Date: 2011.

Source: http://www.wyrdlight.com

This file is licensed under the

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike

3.0 Unported licence.

Attribution: WyrdLight.com

Author: Antony McCallum

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

“De Spirituali Amicitiâ” (“On Spiritual Friendship”), considered to be his greatest work, is a Christian counterpart of Cicero’s “De Amicitia” and designates Christ as the source and ultimate impetus of Spiritual Friendship.[20]

On top of its intellectual foundation, Aelred draws on his personal experience to provide “specific and concrete”[21] recommendations for creating and maintaining long-term friendships.

According to Brian McGuire, “Aelred believed that true love has a respectable name and a rightful place in good human company, especially that of the Monastery”.[21]

This “emphasis on the centrality of friendship in the Monastic life places him outside the mainstream of the tradition. In writing a special treatise dedicated to friendship, and indicating that he could not live without friends, Aelred outdid all his Monastic predecessors and had no immediate successors. Whether or not his need for friendship is an expression of Aelred’s sexual identity, his insistence on individual friendships in the Monastic life meant a departure from what is implied in the Rule of Saint Benedict”.[22]

Within the wider context of Christian Monastic friendship, “it was Aelred who specifically posited friendship and human love as the basis of Monastic life as well as a means of approaching Divine Love, who developed and promulgated a systematic approach to the more difficult problems of intense friendships between Monks”.[23]

It was likely at Durham that Aelred first encountered Cicero’s “Laelius de Amicitia”. In Roman terminology, “Amicitia” means “friendship”, and could be between States or individuals.

Dr. Marsha Dutton.

“On The Soul”.

 The Treatise of Saint Aelred of Rievaulx.

Available on YouTube

HERE

PART FIVE FOLLOWS.

The Grand Trunk Rail Road. An Express Train Leaves Portland And Danville Junction For Montreal, Quebec, And Toronto, Every Morning.

 

Illustration: PINTEREST

Saint Maurus. Abbot. Feast Day 15 January.

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

Saint Maurus.
   Abbot.
   Feast Day 15 January.

Simple.

White Vestments.

Saint Benedict orders Saint Maurus

to the rescue of Saint Placidus. circa 1445

Current location: The National Gallery of Art,

Washington, DC, USA.

Source: http://www.abcgallery.com/L/lippi/flippi5.html

then en:Image:FralippiMaurusandPlacidus.jpg

Author: Fra Filippo Lippi

(Wikimedia Commons)

Having been committed in his earliest childhood by the Senator, Eutychius, his father, to the care of Saint Benedict, the great Patriarch of The Monks of The West, Saint Maurus faithfully reproduced all the virtues of his Master.

The latter, having commanded him to save young Placid, who was drowning, he walked with simple confidence on the waters of a torrent and brought him back safe and sound.

Having been sent to Gaul, according to a Tradition, he promulgated “The Holy Rule of Saint Benedict”, Founded The Monastery at Glanfeuil, France, and wrought many Miracles.

By his Doctrine, permeated by Evangelical perfection, and by his Works, that is to say. by thousands of Abbeys which, during twelve Centuries covered France, and which all sprang from the one he had Founded, he bore striking testimony to The Divinity of Jesus.

He died in 584 A.D.

Mass: Os justi: (From The Common of Abbots).

Saint Paul. The First Hermit. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 15 January.

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

Saint Paul. 

   The First Hermit.
   Feast Day 15 January.

Double.

White Vestments.

English: Saint Paul.

The First Hermit.

Español: San Pablo Ermitaño.

Español: San Pablo, el primer ermitaño, medita ante una calavera en la soledad de su retiro. Es una obra de la última etapa de Ribera, quien desterró las tinieblas que caracterizan las primeras décadas de su carrera y apostó por una mayor claridad y una gama cromática más amplia.

Artist: Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652).

Date: 1640.

Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Source: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Paul, The Father of Hermits, had Saint Jerome for his historian. Having become an orphan at the age of fifteen, he gave up his possessions and retired into a desert, where a flourishing palm-tree, a symbol of his virtues (Introit) provided him with food and clothing.

He Meditated in solitude on the science of sciences, which is to know Jesus Christ (Epistle) and The Father, Whom Christ reveals to The Humble (Gospel). He lived thus to the age of one hundred and twelve, enjoying in the heroic exercise of Prayer and Penance the sweetness of The Lord's Yoke (ibid.).

The great Saint Anthony of The Desert visited him, a little before his death, and Saint Paul asked him, as a last favour, to allow him to sleep his last sleep in the cloak of Saint Athanasius, the invincible Defender of The Divinity of Christ.

Coat-of-Arms.

Order of Saint Paul, The First Hermit.

The Pauline Fathers.

Photo: 10 April 2017.

Source: Own work.

Author: Roman433

(Wikimedia Commons)

Abbreviation: O.S.P.P.E.

Motto: “Solus Cum Deo Solo”.

Formation: 1250 A.D.

Type: Catholic Religious Order.

Headquarters: Jasna Gora, Poland.

Key people:

Blessed Eusebius of Esztergom,

Cardinal George Martinuzzi,

Bishop Bartholomew of Pécs.

Website: HERE

He thereby affirmed that he died in the communion of this Saint and that his own long life of Penance had encouraged those who fought against The Arian Heresy. He died towards 342 A.D.

During this Season after Epiphany, Consecrated to The Manifestation of The Divinity of Jesus, let us, with Saint Paul The First Hermit, endeavour to convince ourselves that a Christian life consists in recognising Christ as The Son of God and in Sanctifying ourselves by making His Divine Holiness our own (Epistle).

Mass: Justus ut palma: (Second Mass of a Confessor, not a Bishop).
Collect: Deus qui nos.
Commemoration: Of Saint Maurus (Abbot).

Collect: Intercéssio.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

Saint Paul, the First Hermit (Anba Boula) (Ava Pavly) , commonly known as Saint Paul the First Hermit, or Saint Paul the Anchorite, or Saint Paul of Thebes (☩ circa 341 A.D.), is regarded as the First Christian Hermit. He is not to be confused with Paul The Simple, who was a disciple of Anthony the Great.

The Life of Saint Paul the First Hermit was composed in Latin by Saint Jerome, circa 375 A.D. The legend, according to Jerome’s “Vitæ Patrum” (Vita Pauli primi eremitæ), is that, as a young man, Paul fled to the Theban Desert during the Persecution of Emperors Decius and Valerianus, around 

250 A.D.

At that time, Paul and his married sister, both of whom lived in the Thebaid [Editor: Region of ancient Egypt], lost their parents. In order to obtain Paul’s inheritance, his brother-in-law sought to betray him to the persecutors.

He lived in the mountains of this desert, in a cave near a clear spring and a palm tree, the leaves of which provided him with raiment, and the fruit of which provided him with his only source of food, until he was 43 years old, when a raven started bringing him half a loaf of bread daily. He would remain in that cave for the rest of his life, almost a hundred years.

Paul of Thebes is known to posterity because Anthony, in the year 342 A.D., was told in a dream about the older Hermit’s existence, and went to find him.

Familiar stories, from “The Life”, include: The meeting of Saint Paul and Saint Anthony; the raven which brought them bread; Saint Anthony being sent to fetch the cloak, given him by “Athanasius the Bishop”, in which to bury Saint Paul; Saint Paul’s death, before he returned; and the grave dug by lions.

Jerome further related the meeting of Anthony the Great and Paul, when the latter was aged one hundred and thirteen. They conversed with each other for one day and one night.

The Synaxarium shows each Saint inviting the other to Bless and Break the Bread, as a token of honour. Saint Paul held one side, putting the other side into the hands of Father Anthony, and soon the bread broke through the middle and each took his part.

When Anthony next visited him, Paul was dead. Anthony clothed him in a tunic, which was a present from Athanasius of Alexandria, and buried him, with two lions helping to dig the grave.

Father Anthony returned to his Monastery, taking with him the robe woven with palm leaf. He honoured the robe so much that he only wore it twice a year: At Easter and at Pentecost.

Saint Paul the First Hermit’s Feast Day, 15 January in The West, on 5 January or 15 January in Eastern Orthodox Churches, and on 2 Meshir (9 February) in the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Saint Anthony described him as “the First Monk”.

Saint Paul’s Monastery (Deir Mar Boulos) is traditionally believed to be on the site of the cave where the Saint lived and where his remains are kept. The Monastery is located in the Eastern desert mountains of Egypt, near the Red Sea. The Cave Church of Saint Paul marks the spot where Saint Anthony, “the Father of Monasticism,” and Saint Paul, “the First Hermit,” are believed to have met.

He is also the Patron Saint of the Diocese of San Pablo (Philippines) and is the Titular of the Cathedral of the said Diocese in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines.

The Order of Saint Paul The First Hermit was founded in Hungary, in his honour, in the 13th-Century. He is usually represented with a palm tree, two lions and a raven.

The Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit (Latin: Ordo Fratrum Sancti Pauli Primi Eremitæ, Croatian: Red svetog Pavla prvog pustinjaka – pavlini, Czech: Řád paulínů, German: Pauliner, Hungarian: Szent Pál első remete szerzeteseinek rendje, Polish: Paulini – Zakon Świętego Pawła Pierwszego Pustelnika, Slovak: Rád Svätého Pavla Prvého Pustovníka) is a Monastic Order of the Roman Catholic Church, Founded in Hungary during the 13th-Century.

The Title is derived from the Hermit, Saint Paul of Thebes 

(☩ circa 345 A.D.), Canonised in 491 A.D., by Pope Gelasius I. After his death, a Monastery, taking him as its model, was Founded on Mount Sinai and still exists today.

Complete Sacred Music For Five Voices. Composer: Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613). Plus, “Miserere”.

Complete Sacred Music For Five Voices.

Composer: Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613).

Sung by: Oxford Camerata.

Founder: Jeremy Summerly.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Illumina Faciem Tuam.

Deus Refugium Et Virtus.

Exaudi Deus Deprecationem Meam.

Tribulationem Et Dolorem.

Tribularer Si Nescirem.

Precibus Et Meritis Beatæ Mariæ.

O Crux Benedicta.

O Vos Omnes.

Dignare Me Laudare Te.

Maria Mater Gratiæ.

Laboravi In Gemitu Meo.

Ave Dulcissima Maria.

Domine Ne Despicias.

Peccantem Me Quotidie.

 Sancti Spiritus Domine.

Hei Mihi Domine.

Venit Lumen Tuum Jerusalem.

Reminiscere Miserationum Tuarum.

Ave Regina Cœlorum.

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia, 

unless stated otherwise.

Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (1566 -1613) was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, he is better known for writing Madrigals and pieces of Sacred Music that use a Chromatic language not heard again until the Late-19th-Century.

He is also known for killing his first wife and her aristocratic lover upon finding them “in flagrante delicto”.

Gesualdo’s uncle was Carlo Borromeo, later Saint Charles Borromeo. His mother was the niece of Pope Pius IV.

“Miserere”.

Composer: Carlo Gesualdo.

Available on YouTube

HERE

France’s Picardy Region. The Heartland Of Cathedrals.

 

France’s Picardy region.

The heartland of Cathedrals.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Saint Kentigern (Also Known As Saint Mungo). Bishop And Confessor. Feast Day 14 January. White Vestments.

Saint Kentigern, also known as Saint Mungo. 

Founder and Patron Saint of Glasgow.

Date: 3 March 2012.

Source: https://www.flickr.com/

photos/dun_deagh/10062429595/

This File is licensed under the 

Creative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.

Author: dun_deagh

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
   By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
      Volume 3.
      Christmas.
      Book II.

Saint Kentigern (also known as Saint Mungo), whose Feast is kept today in several Dioceses of the North of England and 

also in Scotland, stands out as one of the zealous Monks of the 6th-Century A.D., who laboured incessantly for the conversion of the inhabitants of these islands.

He was brought up in the Cistercian Monastery at Culross, Scotland, from early childhood, and was thus trained from his youth in all the practices of Monastic observance.

However, when he reached man’s estate, feeling called to a more rigorous manner of life, he left Culross and took up his abode in a solitude in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, where he led a most mortified life, eating but once in three or four days, spending the night in Prayer, and wearing a garment of haircloth.

Stained-Glass Windows, 

Bute Hall, University of Glasgow. 

Probably Robert Story Memorial Window, 

by Douglas Strachan, placed in the Bute Hall 

of Glasgow University on 21 October 1909.

Saints depicted are, from Left to Right: 

Saint Ninian (Saint Trynnian); 

Saint Kentigern (Saint Mungo); 

Saint Columba; 

Saint Modan.

Photo: 28 March 2017.

Source: Own work.

This File is licensed under the 

Creative Commons Attribution-

Share Alike 4.0 International licence.

Author: Vysotsky

(Wikimedia Commons)

This manner of life gave the greatest edification to all who came in contact with him, and his virtue was such that, at the age of twenty-five, he was elected to the Bishopric of Glasgow.

He had grave misgivings as to the validity of his Ordination 

on account of his age, but was forced to bow before the importunities of those who had chosen him for their Pastor.

He ruled his vast Diocese, which was bordered by the North Sea on the East and by the Atlantic Ocean on the West, with wisdom and prudence, though his manner of living remained unchanged, and, moreover, each Lent it was his custom to retire into solitude, giving himself entirely to Prayer and living upon roots and herbs.

He was assiduous in visiting his flock, travelling always on foot, and the force of his Preaching, together with the mildness and sweetness of his character and the asceticism of his life, was the means whereby innumerable pagans were brought into The Church and many Pelagian heretics converted to the true Faith.

This devoted Prelate was the father of many Monks, a great number of whom he sent to evangelise the North of Scotland, the Orkney Isles, and even Norway and Iceland.

The enemy of mankind, however, would not suffer so many Souls to be snatched from his grasp without molestation, and he caused the Royal Family to raise such a bitter persecution against the Saint that he was forced to leave the Country.

He took refuge in Wales, first at Cærleon, Newport, where he built a Church, then with Saint David, and, finally, he settled at the junction of the Rivers Elwy and Cluid, where he built a Monastery, now known as Saint Asaph’s.

One of the Princes of the Country opposed this undertaking, whereupon he was struck with blindness, but was cured by the intercession of Saint Kentigern and thereafter became his great benefactor.

The great crime committed against Saint Kentigern in Scotland was not permitted to remain unpunished. All those who had persecuted the Saint were visited by the just vengeance of Almighty God, and a Prince, virtuous and loyal to The Church, ascended the throne, and his first act was to recall Saint Kentigern, who returned, bringing with him some Monks from Saint Asaph’s.

In 593 A.D., the Saint visited Pope Saint Gregory the Great and unburdened his Soul of the doubts he had always held regarding his Ordination. The supreme Pontiff set his mind at rest, and, confirming him in Office, sent him back to his See, which he governed in peace for eight years more.

On 13 January 601, he was called to his eternal reward at the advanced age of eighty-five, and was buried in his Cathedral Church at Glasgow.

Saint Felix. Priest And Martyr. Whose Feast Day Is, Today, 14 January.

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

Saint Felix.
   Priest and Martyr.
   Feast Day 14 January.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Felix rescues Saint Massimo (Saint Maximianus).

Church of San Felice (Saint Felix), Florence, Italy.

Photo: 5 January 2014.

Source: Own work.

Author: Sailko

(Wikimedia Commons)

This Holy Priest was born in Nola, Italy, and died towards

312 A.D.

Violently persecuted for The Faith, he earned the Title of Martyr, although he survived the cruel torments which he underwent.

Innumerable Miracles made his tomb famous. According to Saint Paulinus, who owed to him his conversion, Nola became, after Rome, the second place for Pilgrimages, so numerous in the 4th-Century A.D. Thus, The Divine Power of The Master is proclaimed by this glorious servant.

Mass: Lætábitur.

Church of San Felice (Saint Felix), Florence.

Photo: 12 May 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Sailko

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from "The Liturgical Year",
by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Volume 3.

Christmas.
Book II.

Saint Felix.
Priest and Martyr.

Encircled by the radiant splendours of The Epiphany, there comes before us, today, in company with Saint Hilary of Poitiers (Feast Day, today), a humble lover of the virtues of The Crib of Our Emmanuel.

Though withdrawn by God, Himself, from the fury of his persecutors, and thus from a Martyr's death which would have Crowned his cruel torments and imprisonment, Felix, nevertheless, has won the right to his Palm [Editor: of Martyrdom] by the invincible courage he showed amidst all his sufferings.

In Heaven, he was already accounted worthy of his reward, but he was yet for a long time to gladden and strengthen The Church on Earth by those examples of wonderful Poverty, Humility, and ardent Charity, which now claim for him a place in The Sacred Cycle [Editor: The Sanctoral Cycle] near to the lowly Manger of The King of Peace.

“Nesciens Mater” Composed By: Antoine de Févin. Sung By: Antiquum Documentum.

“Nesciens Mater”

Composed by: Antoine de Févin.

Sung by: Antiquum Documentum.

Available on YouTube

HERE

“Nesciens Mater” (Antoine de Févin ♰ 1511). Performed live in a concert of ornamented choral polyphony by Antiquum Documentum in the Chapel of the Resurrection, Pusey House, Oxford on 7 December 2023. 

De Févin, a noted Franco-Flemish composer, was a contemporary of Josquin, and his works are often likened in style to those by Josquin. 

The “Nesciens Mater” is one of his fourteen surviving motets. This more unusual Marian Antiphon was one favoured particularly by French and English composers (it was not included in the cycle of Marian Antiphons put forward at the Council of Trent). 

This setting includes a slightly longer version of the text: 

Nesciens mater virgo virum, peperit sine dolore salvatorem saeculorum, ipsum regem angelorum;
sola virgo lactabat, ubere de caelo pleno.

Virgo hodie fidelis etsi verbum genuit incarnatum virgo mansit et post partum quam laudantes omnes dicimus: benedicta tu in mulieribus.

Amen.

Saint Hilary Of Poitiers (300 A.D. - 368 A.D.). “Hammer Of The Arians” (“Malleus Arianorum”). “Athanasius Of The West”. Bishop. Confessor. Doctor Of The Church.

English: Stained-Glass Window depicting Saint Hilary.

Church of Saint Hilary, Boussais, Deux-Sèvres, France.

Français: Vitraux du chœur de l’église

Saint-Hilaire de Boussais, Deux-Sèvres, France. Représentation de l'entrée de saint Hilaire à Poitiers.

Photo: 23 June 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Père Igor

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The Nave. Church of Saint Hilary-the-Great, Poitiers.

Français: Nef de l'église Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand à Poitiers.

Photo: 12 June 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: GO69

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

Hilary (Hilarius) of Poitiers (circa 300 A.D. – circa 368 A.D.) was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of The Church. He was sometimes referred to as “the Hammer of the Arians” (Latin: Malleus Arianorum) and “the Athanasius of the West.” His name, Hilary, comes from the Latin word for “happy” or “cheerful”. His Feast Day is 14 January.

Hilary was born at Poitiers, either at the end of the 3rd-Century A.D., or the beginning of the 4th-Century A.D. His parents were pagans of distinction. He received a good education, including what had even then become somewhat rare in the West, some knowledge of Greek. He studied, later on, the Old and New Testament writings, with the result that he abandoned his Neo-Platonism for Christianity, and, with his wife and his daughter (Traditionally named Saint Abra), was Baptised and received into The Church.

The Christians of Poitiers so respected Hilary that, about 

350 A.D. or 353 A.D., they unanimously elected him their Bishop. At that time, Arianism threatened to overrun the Western Church; Hilary undertook to repel the disruption. One of his first steps was to secure the Excommunication, by those of the Gallican hierarchy, who still remained Orthodox Christians, of Saturninus, the Arian Bishop of Arles, and of Ursacius and Valens, two of his prominent supporters.

English: The Ordination of Saint Hilary of Poitiers.

From a 14th-Century Manuscript.

Français: Ordination de saint Hilaire.

Date: 14th-Century; “Vie de saintes”.

Source: http://saints.bestlatin.net/

gallery/hilaire_bnfms.htm

Author: Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs.

(Wikimedia Commons)

About the same time, Hilary wrote to Emperor Constantius II a remonstrance against the persecutions by which the Arians had sought to crush their opponents (“Ad Constantium Augustum liber primus”, of which the most probable date is 355 A.D.). His efforts did not succeed at first, for, at the Synod of Biterrae (Béziers), summoned by the Emperor in 356 A.D., with the professed purpose of settling the long-standing dispute, an Imperial “Rescript” banished the new Bishop, along with Rhodanus of Toulouse, to Phrygia.

Hilary spent nearly four years in exile, although the reasons for this banishment remain obscure. The traditional explanation is that Hilary was exiled for refusing to subscribe to the condemnation of Athanasius and the Nicene Creed. More recently, several scholars have suggested that political opposition to Constantius and support of the usurper, Silvanus, may have led to Hilary’s downfall.

While in Phrygia, however, he continued to govern his Diocese, as well as writing two of the most important of his contributions to Dogmatic and Polemical Theology: The “De synodis”, or, “De fide Orientalium”, an epistle addressed in 358 A.D., to the Semi-Arian Bishops in Gaul, Germany, and Britain, expounding the true views (sometimes veiled in ambiguous words) of the Eastern Bishops on the Nicene controversy; and the “De trinitate libri XII”, composed in 359 A.D. and 360 A.D., the first successful expression in Latin of that Council’s theological subtleties, originally elaborated in Greek.

Although some members of Hilary’s own party thought the first contribution had shown too great a forbearance towards the Arians, Hilary replied to their criticisms in the “Apologetica ad reprehensores libri de synodis responsa”.

English: Illumination, showing Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, from the Passionary of Weissenau (Weißenauer Passionale); Fondation Bodmer, Coligny, Switzerland; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 144r.

Deutsch: Initial I und Miniatur des hl. Hilarius, 

ein totes Kind zum Leben erweckend; aus dem Weißenauer Passionale; Fondation Bodmer, Coligny, Switzerland; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 144r.

Date: Between 1170 and 1200.

Source: http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/cb/0127

Author: Either an unknown Master or “Frater Rufillus”.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Hilary also attended several Synods during his time in exile, including the Council at Seleucia (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.

English: The Saint Maixent School, Abbey Saint Maixent. Department of Deux-Sèvres, France. Stained-Glass Windows in the Choir, showing Saint Hilary.

Français: Vitrail consacré à cinq saints évêques liés à l' abbatiale, et un roi: St Saturnin premier saint patron, St Quabit (?), St Hilaire, St Léger qui fut abbé de Saint-Maixent, St Maxence alias St Maixent nom monastique d'Adjutor fondateur du monastère, St Agapit fondateur de la première communauté et Saint Louis protecteur de l' abbaye.

Source: Own work.

Author: Dvillafruela

(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 Saint 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.

Church of the former Abbey of Saint-Maixent, the Commune of Saint-Maixent-School (Department of Deux-Sèvres), France. Contains Stained-Glass Windows depicting Saint Hilary.

Photo: 31 January 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: MOSSOT

(Wikimedia Commons)

Nave of the Abbey of Saint-Maixent, has Stained-Glass Windows showing Saint Hilary of Poitiers.

Photo: 31 January 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: MOSSOT

(Wikimedia Commons)

Hilary’s expositions of the Psalms, “Tractatus super Psalmos”, 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 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.

English: Illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle,

showing Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers.

Deutsch: Illustration aus der Schedel'schen Weltchronik,

Blatt 131 recto

Date: 1493.

Source: Scan from original book.

Author: Michel Wolgemut, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff

(Text: Hartmann Schedel).

(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 Saint 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 [Editor: “Life”] 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.

Author: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT

(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: The Church of Sant’Ilario di Poitiers.

Italiano: L’autore io, chiesa di s.ilario,

bedero valcuvia, libero uso.

Date: 12 January 2010 (original upload date).

Source: Transferred from it.wikipedia to Commons

by User:Cruccone using CommonsHelper

Author: Original uploader was Davide9191 at it.wikipedia

(Wikimedia Commons)

English: The 15th- and 16th-Century Parish Church of

Saint Hilary, Clohars-Fouesnant, Brittany.

Français: Clohars-Fouesnant : l'église paroissiale 

Saint-Hilaire (XVe et XVIe siècles).

Photo: 9 August 2012.

Source: Own work.

Author: Moreau.henri

(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.

Church of Saint Hilary-the-Great, Poitiers, France.

This File: 12 April 2008.

User: MainMa

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Hilary.
   Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of The Church.
   Feast Day 14 January.

Double.

White Vestments.

After having persecuted The Church during the first Centuries A.D., 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 Relics of Saint Hilary. 

The Crypt, Church of Saint Hilary-the-Great, Poitiers.

Deutsch: Saint-Hilaire-de-Poitiers.

Reliqienschrein in der Krypta.

Photo: August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Transferred from de.wikipedia to Commons

by User:Brackenheim using CommonsHelper

Author: KBWEi at de.wikipedia

(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 of The Church (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.