This observance appears in the catholic calendar with liturgical color green .
Saint Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, is celebrated for his courageous defense of the divinity of Christ against the Arian heresy in the 4th century, earning him the title "Athanasius of the West."
Saint Hilary of Poitiers, a prominent 4th-century Bishop and Doctor of the Church, is renowned for his unwavering commitment to orthodox doctrine, particularly his profound theological contributions in defending the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father against the widespread Arian heresy. His extensive writings, including "De Trinitate," articulate the complex mystery of the Trinity with clarity and depth, making him a pivotal figure in solidifying the foundational beliefs about Christ's divine nature within the Western tradition, even enduring exile for his fidelity to the truth. His efforts significantly shaped the intellectual and spiritual landscape of his era, ensuring the preservation of essential tenets for future generations of believers.
Saint Hilary of Poitiers, born around 310 AD in Poitiers, Gaul (modern-day France), emerged as one of the most profound and influential Latin Church Fathers of the 4th century. Unlike many of his contemporary saints who were raised in Christian households, Hilary came from a distinguished pagan family, receiving a classical education steeped in rhetoric and philosophy. His intellectual journey, marked by a deep study of sacred texts and a profound engagement with philosophical thought, eventually led him to a transformative encounter with Christian revelation. He was particularly drawn to the Gospel of John, whose opening verses on the Word's divinity resonated deeply with his philosophical inquiries into the nature of existence and truth. This intellectual and spiritual quest culminated in his conversion to Christianity around 345 AD, followed by his baptism. Hilary was married and had a daughter, Abra, who is also venerated as a saint, indicating his commitment to his family life even as he embraced a new spiritual path. His conversion, though personal, laid the groundwork for his future defense of the Church's most fundamental doctrines.
Despite his lay status and family commitments, Hilary's exceptional piety, theological insight, and moral fortitude were quickly recognized by the Christian community in Poitiers. Around 353 AD, he was unanimously elected Bishop of Poitiers, a testament to his burgeoning reputation and the clear call of God upon his life. This was a tumultuous period for the Church, as the Arian heresy, which denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ, was rapidly gaining traction, even finding favor with the Roman Emperor Constantius II. Hilary, though relatively new to the episcopacy, immediately understood the existential threat Arianism posed to the very core of Christian belief. He swiftly became a staunch defender of the Nicene Creed, which affirmed the consubstantiality (homoousios) of the Son with the Father, proclaiming Christ as truly God from God, true God from true God. His unwavering commitment to orthodoxy earned him the moniker "Athanasius of the West," drawing a parallel to the great Alexandrian bishop who fought Arianism in the East.
Hilary's commitment to Nicene orthodoxy quickly brought him into direct conflict with the imperial powers and the Arian-sympathizing bishops. At the Council of Béziers in 356 AD, Hilary courageously refused to condemn Saint Athanasius or endorse Arian doctrines, standing firm against immense pressure. This defiance led to his exile by Emperor Constantius II to Phrygia in Asia Minor, a remote region of the Eastern Roman Empire. Far from being silenced or defeated, Hilary viewed his exile not as a punishment but as an opportunity for deeper theological study and prolific writing. During these four years (356-360 AD), he immersed himself in the Greek theological tradition, learning its nuances and engaging with the works of Eastern Fathers. This period was instrumental in shaping his mature theological thought, allowing him to bridge the linguistic and theological divides between East and West.
It was during his exile that Hilary composed his magnum opus, *De Trinitate* (On the Trinity), a monumental twelve-book work that systematically refutes Arianism and articulates the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. This work, alongside *De Synodis*, which aimed to clarify the positions of various Eastern bishops for a Western audience, became foundational texts for Western Trinitarian theology. Hilary's profound grasp of Scripture, combined with his philosophical acumen, allowed him to present a coherent and compelling defense of Christ's divinity and the co-equality of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. His writings are characterized by their intellectual rigor, deep spirituality, and passionate commitment to the truth of the Incarnation.
In 360 AD, Hilary was permitted to return to Gaul, not because the Emperor had a change of heart, but perhaps because his continued presence in the East, where he was actively challenging Arian bishops and organizing opposition, proved more disruptive than his exile. Upon his return, Hilary tirelessly continued his mission to restore Nicene orthodoxy in the West. He worked to unite orthodox bishops, reconcile those who had wavered, and expose the subtle theological errors of Arianism. He notably confronted Auxentius, the Arian Bishop of Milan, a key figure supported by the imperial court, though his efforts to depose Auxentius were ultimately unsuccessful due to imperial protection. Despite these challenges, Hilary's influence was immense; he became a leading voice in re-establishing Catholic doctrine in Gaul and beyond, fostering a spiritual renewal centered on the true nature of Christ.
Saint Hilary of Poitiers died around 367 AD, leaving behind a legacy as a brilliant theologian, a courageous defender of the faith, and a spiritual guide. His unwavering commitment to the divinity of Christ, even in the face of exile and persecution, solidified the foundational tenets of Christianity in the Latin West. His profound theological contributions, particularly his systematic exposition of the Trinity, earned him the title of Doctor of the Church, conferred by Pope Pius IX in 1851. His feast day is celebrated on January 13, and he remains an enduring model of intellectual integrity, spiritual fortitude, and steadfast loyalty to the truth of Christ, whose life and work continue to inspire believers to plumb the depths of divine mystery and defend the integrity of the Catholic faith.
The air in the imperial court was thick with tension, heavy with the subtle scent of incense and the weight of Emperor Constantius II's displeasure. Bishop Hilary of Poitiers stood before him, a solitary figure of unwavering conviction amidst a sea of bishops eager to appease the Arian-sympathizing emperor. It was the year 356 AD, and the Council of Béziers had been convened, not for genuine theological debate, but to enforce the Emperor's will: the condemnation of the staunch Nicene defender, Athanasius, and the acceptance of Arian doctrines that diminished the divine majesty of Christ.
Hilary, a man of profound intellect and even more profound faith, refused to yield. His voice, clear and resonant, echoed through the chamber as he proclaimed the unchangeable truth of Christ's divinity, echoing the Nicene Creed. He knew the cost of such defiance. The Emperor, accustomed to absolute obedience, was incensed. To challenge his theological pronouncements was to challenge his imperial authority.
"Exile him!" the Emperor's decree thundered, and Hilary was stripped of his see and sent far away, across the vast empire, to the distant reaches of Phrygia in Asia Minor. It was meant to be a silencing, a removal of a troublesome voice from the heart of the Western Church. But Constantius II gravely underestimated the spirit of Hilary.
Instead of despairing, Hilary embraced his exile as a divine opportunity. He plunged into the rich theological traditions of the East, learning Greek, studying the works of the Cappadocian Fathers, and mastering the subtle nuances of Eastern Trinitarian thought. His pen became his sword, and from his place of banishment, he poured forth magnificent treatises, most notably his twelve-book masterpiece, *De Trinitate*. In these pages, he meticulously dismantled the Arian arguments, building an unassailable fortress of orthodox doctrine, illuminating the profound mystery of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal and co-eternal.
His writings, smuggled back to the West, became a beacon of hope and a rallying cry for those who remained faithful to Nicene Christianity. Hilary's exile, intended to isolate him, instead transformed him into a bridge between the theological traditions of East and West, making his voice even more potent. The Emperor's attempt to silence him had, paradoxically, amplified his message, proving that true faith cannot be contained by imperial decrees or geographical boundaries, but flourishes even in the barren lands of exile, nourished by divine grace and unyielding conviction.
c. 356-360 AD
25. The Apostle, then, does not call Him a creature of God, but the first-born of every creature, thus clearly distinguishing Him from creatures. For the creature is a created thing, but the first-born is a Son. The creature is made, but the first-born is begotten. For if He were a creature, He would not be the first-born; and if He were the first-born, He would not be a creature. For the first-born is of the same nature as those of whom He is the first-born; but a creature is of a different nature from its Creator. Therefore, the Apostle, in calling Him the first-born of every creature, declares Him to be of a different nature from creatures, and of the same nature as the Father. For as the first-born of man is man, so the first-born of God is God. And as the first-born of light is light, so the first-born of truth is truth.
26. For how can He be a creature, who is before all creatures? For if He were a creature, He must have been created. And if He were created, He must have been created out of nothing. But He who is before all things, and by whom all things were made, cannot be a creature. For the creature is made by Him, but He is not made by any. He is begotten, not created. He is of God, not out of nothing. He is the Son, not a work. He is the image, not a likeness. He is the express image of His Father's substance, not a copy of His Father's will. For He is the Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Truth of God. And all these are naturally in God, not accidentally. For God is always Word, always Wisdom, always Power, always Truth. Therefore, His Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Truth are co-eternal with Him. And since the Son is the Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Truth of God, He is co-eternal with the Father.
27. But if any one should say that He is a creature, because He is called the first-born of every creature, let him consider that the Apostle does not say that He is a creature, but the first-born of every creature. For the first-born is not the same as the creature. For the first-born is of the same substance as those of whom He is the first-born; but the creature is of a different substance from its Creator. Therefore, the Apostle, by calling Him the first-born of every creature, teaches us that He is of the same substance as the Father, and of a different substance from creatures. For as the first-born of man is man, so the first-born of God is God. And as the first-born of light is light, so the first-born of truth is truth. For the Son is of the Father, not by division, but by generation. For the Father is not divided when He begets the Son; nor is He changed when He gives birth; nor does He suffer diminution, for He is God. For if He were diminished, He would not be God. And the Son, who is born of Him, is God, not by adoption, but by nature; not by change, but by generation; not by division, but by unity. For what is born of God is God, and what is born of the perfect is perfect, and what is born of the true is true. And since He is born of the Father, He is not less than the Father; for the Father is not imperfect, nor is He diminished when He begets, nor does He suffer loss. For He is God, and His nature is unchangeable. The Son is not a distinct nature, but of the nature of the Father; not a creature, but the Word, Wisdom, Power, and Truth of God. He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. He is not a creature made by God, but the Son born of God. He is not a work, but a generation; not a formation, but a birth. He is not of nothing, but of the Father; not out of substance, but out of nature. For the Father is the fount of divinity, and the Son is the stream flowing from it. The Father is the root, and the Son is the branch. The Father is the sun, and the Son is the ray. They are one, not in confusion of Persons, but in unity of nature. For the Father is Father, and the Son is Son, and the Holy Spirit is Holy Spirit. And these three are one God, not one Person. For the Father is not the Son, nor is the Son the Father, nor is the Holy Spirit the Father or the Son. But the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, because they are of one nature, one essence, one power, one will. And this is the Catholic faith, which we confess and preach. For the Son is God, and the Father is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. For the Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten. And the Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. And this is the true faith, which if anyone does not believe, he is an Arian, and an enemy of God. For to deny the Son's divinity is to deny the Father's perfection, and to deny the Holy Spirit's procession is to deny the Trinity. Therefore, let us hold fast to this faith, which we have received from the Apostles, and which has been confirmed by the Fathers. For there is one God, the Father Almighty, and one Lord Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son, and one Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life. And these three are one God, in unity of essence and distinction of Persons. For the Father is unbegotten, the Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit is proceeding. And in this Trinity there is no before or after, no greater or less, but all three Persons are co-eternal and co-equal. So that in all things, as has been said above, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be adored. He therefore who wishes to be saved, let him thus think of the Trinity. But it is necessary to eternal salvation that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The right Faith therefore is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance of His Mother, born in the world; Perfect God, and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting; Equal to the Father, as touching His Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching His Manhood. Who although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God; One altogether; not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ; Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; From whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At Whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; And shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil, into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.
October 11, 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the series of our Catecheses on the Fathers of the Church, today we consider St Hilary of Poitiers, one of the great Bishops of the fourth century. While in the East the Cappadocian Fathers, as we have seen, were defending the divinity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in the West Hilary was the typical champion of the Trinitarian faith.
He was born in Poitiers, Gaul, in about 310 A.D. of a prominent pagan family. He received an excellent literary education, which largely shaped his intellectual formation. It is important to remember that Hilary was a pagan for a considerable period of his life. It was probably not until he was about 30 that he embarked on a journey to discover the truth, studying the Sacred Scriptures. He soon acquired a knowledge of the Gospel message and decided to be baptized.
Having become a Christian, he dedicated himself completely to God and acquired a profound theological knowledge. For this reason, although he was married and had a daughter, Abra, he was proclaimed Bishop of Poitiers by acclamation of the people in about 353 A.D.
The years in which Hilary lived were marked by profound religious tensions due to Arianism, which denied Jesus Christ's divinity. In the whole of the Roman Empire, the Emperor Constantius II granted his favour to these heretics, who denied that Jesus was God, thereby promoting a policy favourable to Arianism aimed at imposing a creed identical to that of the Emperor on the whole of the Church.
Hilary immediately perceived the danger of this theological current, which reduced Jesus Christ to a mere creature, thereby distorting the Christian faith. Thus, he became a staunch defender of the Nicene faith - that is, of the Symbol of Nicaea - which professed that Jesus Christ was true God and true Man.
His firmness in the faith caused him to be exiled from Gaul to Phrygia in Asia Minor in 356 A.D. by order of Emperor Constantius II. The exile was a providential event for the Bishop of Poitiers. Indeed, he learned Greek and studied the great theologians of the East, particularly Origen and the Cappadocian Fathers. In this way, Hilary became able to unify the theology of the East and the West.
During his exile, Hilary wrote his masterpiece: De Trinitate (On the Trinity). In the books of this work, Hilary explains his faith in the Trinity, especially referring to the Nicene Creed. In it he expresses important reflections on the theological concept of tradition.
For our Saint, true tradition is remembering the past, but this remembering is not merely a passive act but an active one. It is handing down and preserving the common deposit of faith, actualizing it and making it shine in its inviolable truth, because it is necessary that "from generation to generation, it is passed on through the living voice of the Fathers" (cf. De Trinitate, VIII, 1).
Moreover, in this work Hilary cites a series of biblical passages. His commentary is developed in freedom, but with constant concern to respect the biblical text.
Although he was in exile, the Bishop did not interrupt communion with his Diocese, which he sent a "Letter from Exile" (Epistula de Synodis or De Synodis) to. This was an important letter in which Hilary invited the Bishops to stand firm in the faith, explaining that the truth of the Nicene Creed was contained in the various creeds, but that it was necessary to be able to interpret them correctly.
When, in 360 A.D., Constantius II realized that Hilary's presence in Asia Minor was creating more problems than it was solving, he sent him back to Gaul. Here, the Bishop dedicated himself to restoring unity among the Christians, a unity that was still very precarious, especially in Gaul. This task led him, for example, to convene a Synod in Paris in 361 A.D.
It was in his last years that Hilary wrote the Tractatus super Psalmos (Commentary on the Psalms), a commentary on selected Psalms, and the Commentarius in Matthaeum (Commentary on Matthew). In interpreting the Psalms, he highlights the presence of Christ in the whole mystery of salvation and redemption. It was a very widespread patristic comment on the Psalms; the Psalms were read and re-read in the monasteries and in the private life of Christians, and Hilary's interpretation made them accessible and attractive.
In his biblical commentaries, Hilary had a guiding principle, namely, to recognize that Christ is present in all Sacred Scripture. The truth of the faith, for the Bishop of Poitiers, was the criterion for understanding the Scriptures. Every sentence of Scripture had to be understood in the light of the mystery of Christ.
His theological thought is therefore entirely focused on the mystery of Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man. Hilary frequently used the analogy of the sun to explain the mystery of Christ. For him, the sun is in itself and makes itself seen through its radiance. When it manifests itself in its rays, the sun is present, as it were, in its rays. These, however, do not detach themselves from the sun, but rather bring its light to us.
So too, the Son is born of the Father, to be able to be present in the world as the Son of God, and to be able to bring to us the light of the Father. The only desire of the Son is to be able to give us the light of the Father. Hilary also developed a very important concept for theology of the Cross: he explains that Christ's Cross is the encounter between the divine nature and the human nature.
Indeed, in the Passion, Jesus took upon himself all of humanity's suffering and weakness, emptying himself of his divine prerogative. Thus, the Cross became the source of salvation for all humanity: "By his Passion... he worked the passage from death to life" (cf. De Trinitate, X, 9).
St Hilary's theological contribution, finally, was also a decisive factor for the development of the Trinitarian theology of the West, subsequently expressed in the Councils of Constantinople and Chalcedon. Hilary was declared a Doctor of the Universal Church by Pope Pius IX in 1851.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, St Hilary's life and doctrine refer to fundamental aspects of the Christian faith. First of all, the reference to baptism: he was a catechumen for a long time, then he was baptized, and from baptism he drew the awareness of his dignity as a Christian, indeed, as a Bishop.
Secondly, the name of Hilary, as I have already said, is linked to the building of the Trinitarian theology, with the courage to defend the divinity of Jesus Christ against those who denied it. And finally, the third point: Hilary was a Pastor with a profound sense of mission. While he was exiled, he continued to be present to his community with a spiritual fatherhood.
Theological reflection must never be separated from a pastoral and missionary action. The aim of the doctrine is to guide people to communion with God. Thus, theologians, contemplating the mystery of God, are invited to make it known and comprehensible to the People of God, so that they may live.
This is the desire of this great Doctor of the Church: that humanity may recognize God and live. And this is the desire that we too must have in our hearts: to know God so that, knowing him, we may live in communion with him, and thus humanity may have life. Thank you.