Saint of the Day: St. Hilary of Poitiers

Bishop and Doctor of the Church (d. ca. 368)

His life

+ Hilary was born into a noble family in Poitiers, France. Although he was raised as a pagan his philosophical inquiries and study of Sacred Scripture led him to the Christian Faith.

+ Appointed bishop of Poitiers in 353, Hilary spent considerable time and energy combatting the Arian heresy, which denied the Divinity of Jesus. While a very mild-mannered and agreeable person, he did not hesitate to use severe language in proving the Emperor Constantius for his support of Arianism.

+ The outraged emperor exiled Hilary as punishment for his criticism. Hilary spent those years in exile writing in defense of the Faith and he became one of more influential churchmen of his day.

+ Saint Hilary eventually returned to Poitiers and died there around 368. He has traditionally been invoked for protection against snakebites and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1851.

For prayer and reflection

“God knows not how to be anything other than love, he knows not how to be anyone other than the Father. Those who love are not envious and the one who is the Father is so in his totality. This name admits no compromise, as if God were father in some aspects and not in others.”—Saint Hilary of Poitiers

Spiritual bonus

On this day we also remember the priest Blessed Francesco Maria Greco. While serving as a parish priest in Acri, Italy, he organized the construction of a hospital. He later dedicated himself to education and catechesis and to support this work, he co-founded the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts. Blessed Francesco Greco died on January 13, 1931, and was beatified in 2016.

Prayer

Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that we may rightly understand and truthfully profess
the divinity of your Son,
which the Bishop Saint Hilary taught with such constancy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.