13 Jan: St. Hilary of Poitiers, bishop and doctor

Posted on 13 January 2007 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Today is the feast of St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church.  Here is his entry in the 2005 Martyrologium Romanum:

Sancti Hilarii, episcopi et Ecclesiae doctoris, qui, ad sedem Pictaviensem in Aquitania evectus, sub Constantio imperatore arianae haeresi addicto scriptis fidem nicaenam de Trinitate ac de Christi divinitate strenue propugnavit, quapropter quadriennium in Phrygiam relegatus est.  Commentaria quoque celeberrima in Psalmos necnon Evangelium confecit. … [The feast] of Saint Hilary, bishop and doctor of the Church, who, driven from the see of Poitiers in the Aquitane, under the Emperor Constantius, favorable to the Arian heresy, with written works fought strenuously for the Nicean faith about the Trinity and about the divinity of Christ, on account of which he was banished to Phrygia for a period of four years.  He also completed very celebrated commentaries on the psalms and the gospels.

 

 

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9 Comments

  1. Dcn John says:
    13 January 2007 at 4:01 PM

    Great Saint! Someone we need today! According to Father Butler’s ‘Lives of the Saints’, Hilary was a late convert, who also brought his wife and daughter into the Faith. He then separated himself from all non-Christians, even refusing to eat with or say hello to them. In 353 he was appointed Bishop of Poitiers because of his orthodoxy. In his exiles he composed his great work on the Trinity. He is called the ‘Doctor of the Divinity of Christ’. He also encouraged St. Martin of Tours, whom he sheltered from the Arians, to found the first monastery in France. St. Hilary died peacefully in 368 at Poitiers.

  2. Andrew says:
    13 January 2007 at 4:36 PM

    “Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut divinitatem Filii tui, quam beatus Hilarius episcopus constanter asseruit, et convenienter intellegere valeamus, et veraciter profiteri.”

    Quod sine divino auxilio fieri non potest uti ipse Hilarius asseruit dicens: “Nos quidem inopes ea quibus egemus precabimur, et in scrutandis prophetarum tuorum Apostolorumque dictis studium pervicax (studium pervicax – persistent striving) afferemus, et omnes observatae intellegentiae aditus pulsabimus; sed tuum est, et oratum tribuere, et quaesitum adesse, et patere pulsatum.” (Ex huius diei Officio lectionis).

  3. Cathy_of_Alex says:
    13 January 2007 at 4:46 PM

    I’ve been reading this blog too long (or else it’s all the gin!)!
    I can almost read the Latin in its entiriety without the English
    translation.

  4. Dan Hunter says:
    13 January 2007 at 4:54 PM

    Dear Father Zuhlsdorf,
    On my calendar it says that Sat.Jan.13 is the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord.
    Is today both of these feasts?
    God bless you

  5. Andrew says:
    13 January 2007 at 5:32 PM

    Cathy of Alex:

    Don’t mind me. I’m just being obnoxious. Partly! And partly I say to myself: “tough, let them translate it themselves, I aint translating notn for’m: it’s a Catholic blog so why should I have to translate the Latin.”

  6. RBrown says:
    13 January 2007 at 6:10 PM

    If I remember correctly from one of the courses I took from Fr Geo Lawless, St Hilary is the only one cited in St Aug’s De Trinitate.

    And of course Poitiers is near Fontgombault–also Bourges in whose Cathedral I was confirmed.

  7. Henry Edwards says:
    13 January 2007 at 6:20 PM

    Dan,

    On my calendar it says that Sat.Jan.13 is the Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord. Is today both of these feasts?

    You are looking at a traditional 1962 claendar. Father Z, writing from the eternal city itself, is quoting from the Novus Ordo Martyrology.

  8. Dan Hunter says:
    13 January 2007 at 6:51 PM

    Thank you Henry.
    God bless you.

  9. Cathy_of_Alex says:
    13 January 2007 at 7:37 PM

    Andrew: I was actually commenting on Father’s entry. You posted
    while I was still composing my response.

    In any case, I agree with you. Plus, if I have to translate it
    myself it forces me to learn.

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