Our Lost Civilization

St. Hilary of Poitiers* (c. 310– c. 367)

aka, “The Hammer Of Arianism (Malleus Arianorum)

January 13

* West central Gaul (France)


If you have been following these posts, and are still awake, well, congratulations!
And if you've been along on this ride, you will know we left the Christmastide behind last Monday and are now in the days we call, “Ordinary Time.”

As a review, this name, “ordinary time,” refers to those calendar day spans which are outside the Church's main, “tides”... those extended periods that carry individual, liturgical themes for a proscribed number of days, like Lent, Eastertide, Advent, and so on.
So while we wait for these thematic tides within our church year, we occupy ourselves with the sequential march of days in between.
In fact the name “ordinary” stems from a Late Period Latin word, ordinalis, meaning, “...to show order; denoting an order of succession." So as we mark the sequence of “ordinary” days across the calendar, we turn our eyes to the individual feasts, solemnities, commemorations and observances that occur throughout these periods.
Today is just one of many such individual observances, and in this instance, we commemorate the life and example of an inspiring saint.

St. Hilary

For this one, we turn the Wayback Machine to early Christian times, the 4th century CE.

    Here we encounter one of the great Christian heroes, a man who poured out his life's labor and suffering in defense of the very divinity of Christ: St. Hilary of Poitiers.
    And yes, Hilary is a man. His Anglicized name, “Hilary,” is spelled with one, “L,” and looks suspiciously to our modern eyes like a girls name. But his name in Latin is, “Hilarius Pictaviensis' – like “hilarious,” as in happy or cheerful. So think of him as “Hilarius,” if 'Hilary' bothers you.

The Early Church
    Most people are unaware that the early Christian Church was not unified, but was scattered over wide distances and full of dissent. The idea that it was all, “Bible study and guitar music” from the beginning ignores the harsh reality of Christian life in those times.
Christ came and went back to heaven, whereupon His direct Apostles went out on His business... and things went apace that way, with Roman persecutors hot on the heels of any Christian that popped up his head.
    But before long, by about the middle of the 2^nd century (150 CE), rumblings of discord appeared within the Church itself. Not only were the Romans out to get the Christians, but a couple centuries passed that were now punctuated by hotbeds of differing opinion, schools of schismatic separatists, and heretical, cultlike, Christian groups.
The days of bloody ROMAN persecution had scarcely came to a close with Constantine, in 313, when there arose within the Church a dangerous internal enemy, the heresy doctrine called, “Arianism.”

The Heresy
    This doctrinal system, Arianism, denied the divinity of Christ - it espoused a total dissimilarity between Christ and God. Arianism came to embody the concept that the Son and the Father are distinct from one another, and that Christ was separate and subordinate to God. In short, there is not one God in Three Persons, but three separate entities following orders from God. In its eventual theology, it was hardly more than a form of paganism masquerading as Christian doctrine.
    The smoldering strife caused by Arianism soon flared into a mighty conflict endangering the whole Church. To make matters worse, its spread was fast and powerful as many rulers of the period had roots in the multi-theism of pagan beliefs, and they found this split-up godhead familiar.
    So it had support from some very high tiers of culture and government.

    Once again, persecution swept through the Church, this time from within - by those who claimed to be Christian. Countless martyrs sealed their belief in Christ's Tripartite divinity with their blood; and any orthodox bishops who voiced opposition to the Arianic rulers were forced into exile amid extreme privations.

    But among the foremost defenders of the true faith stood Hilary, or Hilarius, if you prefer.

St. Hilary
   Born into a prominent pagan family and well-educated in the Greek school, it was not until near middle age that Hilary embraced Christianity. He said he was moved to that take that step by the God presented to him in the Holy Scriptures.
    He soon converted his wife and daughter, and separated himself and his family from all non-Catholic company, to protect himself and them from the influence of error, and the many false philosophies and heresies that existed at the time.
    Though a married man, he was nonetheless made bishop of Poitiers around 350 CE by reason of his exemplary life. But Arianism threatened to overrun the Western Church and Hilary fought to repel the disruption. He first secured the excommunication of any in the Gallican hierarchy that still professed their Christianity, and of Saturninus, the Arian Bishop of Arles and two strong, elitist supporters of Saturnius.

Exile...Sort Of
    Hilary also wrote a scathing retort to Emperor Constantius II, detailing the persecutions the Arians had invoked to crush their opponents. His efforts did not succeed, however, because in an attempt to quell the Arian dispute, the Emperor summoned a synod at Béziers which saw Hilary sent into exile!
  As often happened with those who stood up to defend their faith in Christ, he was sent far from his stomping grounds of Gaul. As far as can be determined, this was for both his stern religious stance against Arianism, but also because he irritated the political Arianists among the ruling classes of Gaul.
    So, where did he go? Phrygia, an ancient kingdom in the west central portion of Anatolia (what is now Turkey). He was truly a stranger in a strange land, cast out and abandoned with nothing but his britches. The truth is, we are fortunate that he wasn't stoned to death.

When In Phrygia
Fortunate, because The Church at that time, while scattered, had still reached most corners of the known world, and he found support in Phrygia. In fact, While in Phrygia, he continued to govern his diocese back home, as well as writing some of his most important contributions to dogmatic and polemical theology:

- “De Fide Orientalium,” an epistle from 358 that summarized and benefited the beliefs of certain Orthodox bishops

- “De Trinitate, Libri XII,” composed in 359 and 360

    The latter was his great work on the Blessed Trinity in twelve books (thus its Latin name).
    It is a vigorous defense of the faith, which, he said, "triumphs when attacked," and it is still revered as one of the best works on the subject.

    Finally, after four years of “exile,” he was permitted to return to his native land of Gaul.

Back In The Fight
    Once back in Gaul, he continued his bulldog fight against heresy. Starting in 361, Hilary spent the next three years persuading the local clergy against Arian subordination. Also about 361, Hilary prompted, Martin, the future bishop of Tours, to found a monastery at Ligugé in his diocese.
    In 364, Hilary extended his efforts beyond Gaul. He impeached Auxentius, bishop of Milan, a man high in the imperial favor, as holding anti-doctrinal beliefs. Emperor Valentinian I summoned Hilary to Milan to back up his claims, but the impeachment was denounced and Hilary was expelled from Milan.
    Upon returning home, Hilary published the memoirs of his unsuccessful efforts against Auxentius.
    He also published works accusing the lately deceased emperor as having been the Antichrist, 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."

    While these latter efforts may have been “sour grapes” on his part, it is clear that St. Hilary fought Arianism to his very death in 367. And because of his edifying and illustrious writings on behalf of the true religion of Christ, he was proclaimed Doctor of the Church by Blessed Pius IX in 1851.

    Here is an example of Hilary's no-holds-barred style:

"Now it is time to speak - the time for silence is past. We must expect Christ's return, for the reign of Antichrist has begun. The shepherds must give the warning signals, because the hirelings have fled.
Let us lay down our lives for the sheep, for brigands have entered the fold and the roaring lion is rampaging about. Be ready for martyrdom! Satan himself is clothed as an angel of light."

A favorite motto of St. Hilary was, “Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre,” or, "Servants of the truth ought speak the truth."

— adapted from Pius Parsch, “The Church's Year of Grace”

Patronage: Against snakes; against snake bites; against rheumatism; children learning to walk; mothers; sick people; La Rochelle, France; Poitiers Luçon, France; Argusto, Italy; Parma, Italy; Vervio, Italy

Symbols and Representation: pen and books because of his many writings, children; episcopal vestments, a mitre and crozier, and a beard, usually white and often long

Highlights and Things To Do:

Read more about St. Hilary:

Catholic Encyclopedia https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07349b.htm

Catholic Exchange https://catholicexchange.com/st-hilary-of-poitiers/

Saints Stories for All Ages https://www.loyolapress.com/catholic-resources/saints/saints-stories-for-all-ages/saint-hilary/

See the library of St. Hilary's writings https://www.ccel.org/ccel/hilary_poit

St. Hilary's tomb was originally located in L’Eglise Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand (Church of St. Hilary the Great). According to Saints in Rome and Beyond!
http://www.saintsinrome.com/2013/08/france.html

"In 1572 his tomb was plundered by French Huguenots and St Hilary’s relics were lost. Nearly a century later, in 1657, a miraculous re-discovery of his relics was claimed in Le Puy, France. These relics were then transferred to Poitiers some years later.
Today they are located within an ornate bronze reliquary in the crypt of this church."