St. Hilary of Poitiers, teacher of the Church passed away on this day in 367. This spring semester – this Monday, to be more precise – I will begin teaching the History of the Christian Church here at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary on both the undergraduate and graduate level. While working on the topics to cover, I realized that Western Christendom of the first millennium has not been adequately represented. I also don’t have a clear understanding of the processes that took place there. Therefore, I am glad to use these daily reports to learn more about the Church of the West. St. Hilary was born in Pictavium in Aquitania around 310–320 into a wealthy, noble Gaul family. He became Christian as an adult. This area of today’s France was conquered by Julius Caesar in 51 BC. Hilary received a classical education in Latin, studying Virgil and Cicero, but he was looking for more. The mystery of baptism left an indelible impact on his outlook and, until his last breath, belief in the One God united in Trinity became the foundation of his worldview. As a result of his focused Christian life, Hilary was elected bishop by the Christian population of Poitiers. His educational background helped St. Hilary in exegetical work, which all bishops and priests should conduct: explaining Sacred Scripture to Christians. St. Hilary wrote his commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew. When Arius’ heresy broke out, St. Hilary defended Orthodoxy. The church of Rome remained Orthodox and St. Hilary refused to obey Emperor Constance and to sign off on the deposition of St. Athanasius the Great, Archbishop of Alexandria. With like-minded hierarchs, Hilary refused to participate in the Council of Milan convened by Constance in 355. In the same year, Orthodox bishops held a council of their own in Paris. In order to get imperial approval for the decisions of this council, St. Hilary appealed to Emperor Constance. Gaul was raided by Germanic invaders. St. Hilary was falsely accused of plotting against the imperial authorities and Constance exiled him to Phrygia (modern day Turkey). The 358 Council in Ancyra (modern day Ankara in Turkey) rejected the term of the same essence (omousios) in application to Christ and proposed a definition of ‘similar essence’ (omiousios). St. Hilary worked hard on establishing an understanding between the right-believing bishops in the East and West. For a long time, St. Hilary was under the false impression that Emperor Constance had good intentions, but heretical bishops had confused him. When he realized that the emperor was behind the church intrigues, which he achieved through manipulation of the human dimensions of bishops, St. Hilary wrote his famous pamphlet “Liber contra Constantium imperatorem” addressed to the bishops in his homeland. In 360, St. Hilary returned to Gaul, and in the same year, the army stationed there proclaimed emperor Julian, who made a declaration of religious tolerance. However, when Julian became emperor in 362, Hilary had to defend the church against Neo-Hellenism. After the death of Julian in 363 and the ascension of Valentinian I, St. Hilary continued his fight against Arianism, now in Milan. After returning to Gaul, St. Hilary instructed his disciple St. Martin of Tours to establish a monastery. Soon afterward, St. Hilary died. Undoubtedly, St. Hilary continues to pray for his homeland before the Throne of the King of Glory. Source: A.R.Foikn, Ilarii, Pravoslavnaia Entsiklopedia. |
