St. Hilary, the ‘Athanasius of the West’

This Saturday, 13th January, is the (optional) memorial of St. Hilary of Poitiers (315-368), known as the ‘Athanasius of the West’ for his robust teaching and, as with St. Athanasius, his dogged opposition to the heresy of Arianism. He came from a wealthy pagan parentage and trained as an orator. He got married as a young man and he and his wife had a daughter named Afra. However, his studies led him irresistibly to acknowledge the existence and providence of God and in 350 he converted to Christianity and was baptised. Three years later, although his wife was still alive, he was appointed Bishop of Poitiers. He fearlessly championed Catholic orthodoxy against the prevalent heresy of Arianism, which denied the full divinity of Christ. He ended up being exiled in Phrygia where he wrote his great doctrinal work De Trinitate. From there he attended the Eastern Council of Seleucia in 359, his arguments being so effective that the Arians appealed to the Emperor to allow this troublemaker to return from exile to Gaul. When he returned to Poitiers in 360, there was much rejoicing. Many of his writings are directed to refuting Arianism by demonstrating the divine nature of Christ. He also wrote commentaries on the Psalms and the Gospel of Matthew. Hillary’s writing style involves long and convoluted sentences which some find obscure, but three of his addresses survive that show the power and fearlessness with which he defended the true faith. During his day, he was regarded as one of the greatest theologians of the Western Church and in 1851 was named a Doctor of the Church. His feastday has traditionally been used to mark the beginning of term in some universities, hence ‘Hilary Term.’

Image: aleteia.org