St. Hilary of Poitiers

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Bishop, born in that city at the beginning of the fourth century; died there 1 November, according to the most accredited opinion, or according to theRoman Breviary, on 13 January, 368. Belonging to a noble and very probablypaganfamily, he was instructed in all the branches of profane learning, but, having also taken up the study ofHoly Scripture and finding there thetruth which he sought so ardently, he renouncedidolatry and wasbaptized. Thenceforth his wide learning and hiszeal for the Faith attracted such attention that he was chosen about 350 to govern the body of the faithful which the city had possessed since the third century. Weknow nothing of thebishops who governed thissociety in the beginning. Hilary is the first concerning whom we have authentic information, and this is due to the important part he played in opposingheresy. TheChurch was then greatly disturbed by internal discords, the authority of thepopes not being so powerful in practice as either to prevent or to stop them.Arianism had made frightful ravages in various regions and threatened to invade Gaul, where it already had numerous partisans more or less secretly affiliated with it. Saturninus,Bishop of Arles, the most active of the latter, being exposed by Hilary, convened and presided over a council at Béziers in 356 with the intention of justifying himself, or rather of establishing hisfalse doctrine. Here theBishop ofPoitierscourageously presented himself to defendorthodoxy, but the council, composed for the most part ofArians, refused to hear him, and being shortly afterwards denounced to the Emperor Constantius, the protector ofArianism, he was at his command transported to the distant coasts of Phrygia.

Butpersecution could not subdue the valiant champion. Instead of remaining inactive during his exile he gave himself up to study, completed certain of his works which he had begun, and wrote his treatise on thesynods. In this work he analysed the professions offaith uttered by the Orientalbishops in the Councils ofAncyra,Antioch, andSirmium, and while condemning them, since they were in substanceArian, he sought to show that sometimes the difference between the doctrines of certainheretics andorthodoxbeliefs was rather in the words than in theideas, which led to his counselling thebishops of the West to be reserved in their condemnation. He was sharply reproached for his indulgence by certain ardentCatholics, the leader of whom was Lucifer,Bishop ofCagliari. However, in 359, the city ofSeleucia witnessed the assembly in synod of a large number of Orientalbishops, nearly all of whom were eitherAnomoeans orSemi-Arians. Hilary, whom everyone wished to see and hear, so great was hisreputation for learning and virtue, was invited to be present at this assembly. The governor of the province even furnished him with post horses for the journey. In presence of the Greek fathers he set forth the doctrines of the Gallicbishops, and easilyproved that, contrary to the opinion current in the East, these latter were not Sabellians. Then he took part in the violent discussions which took place between theSemi-Arians, who inclined toward reconciliation with theCatholics, and theAnomoeans, who formed as it were the extreme left ofArianism.

After the council, which had no result beyond the wider separation of these brothers in enmity, he left for Constantinople, the stronghold ofheresy, to continue his battle againsterror. But while theSemi-Arians, who were less numerous and less powerful, besought him to become the intermediary in a reconciliation between themselves and thebishops of the West, theAnomoeans, who had the immense advantage of being upheld by the emperor, besought the latter to send back to his own country this Gallicbishop, who, they said, sowed discord and troubled the Orient. Constantius acceded to their desire, and the exile was thus enabled to set out on his journey home. In 361 Hilary re-entered Poitiers in triumph and resumed possession of hissee. He was welcomed with the liveliestjoy by his flock and his brothers in the episcopate, and was visited by Martin, his former disciple and subsequentlyBishop ofTours. The success he had achieved in his combat againsterror was rendered more brilliant shortly afterwards by the deposition of Saturninus, theArianBishop of Arles by whom he had beenpersecuted. However, as inItaly the memory still rankled of the efforts he had made to bring about a reconciliation between the nearly convertedSemi-Arians and theCatholics, he went in 364 to theBishop ofVercelli to endeavour to overcome the intolerance of the partisans of the Bishop Lucifer mentioned above. Almost immediately afterwards, that it might be seen that, if he was full of indulgence for those whom gentleness might finally win fromerror, he was intractable towards those who were obstinate in their adherence to it, he went toMilan, there to assail openly Auxentius, thebishop of that city, who was a firm defender of theArian doctrines. But the Emperor Valentinian, who protected theheretic, ordered Hilary to depart immediately fromMilan.

He then returned to his city ofPoitiers, from which he was not again to absent himself and where he was to die. This learned and energeticbishop had fought againsterror with the pen as well as in words. The best edition of his numerous and remarkable writings is that published by Dom Constant under the title: "Sancti Hilarii, Pictavorum episcopi opera, ad manuscriptos codices gallicanos, romanos, belgicos, necnon ad veteres editiones castigata" (Paris, 1693). TheLatin Church celebrates hisfeast on 14 January, andPius IX raised him to the rank ofDoctor of the Universal Church. TheChurch of Puy glories in the supposed possession of hisrelics, but according to one tradition his body was borne to the church of St-Denys nearParis, while according to another it was taken from the church of St-Hilaire atPoitiers and burned by theProtestants in 1572.

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