Hilary of Poitiers

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The consecration of Hilary of Poitiers, 14th century manuscript

Hilary of Poitiers (French Saint-Hilaire ; * around 315 in Poitiers ; † 367 ibid) was a bishop and doctor of the church and an outstanding representative of the Trinitarians in the Western Church during the Arian dispute .

Church historical circumstances

Hilarius lived and worked in the time of the Arian dispute. When he was about five years old, Arius and Alexander of Alexandria quarreled ; when he was ten years old, the first council of Nicaea was held. Hilarius worked during the reigns of Constantius II and Julian , was a few years younger than Athanasius and a few years older than Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianz , whose work began only after his death.

Life

Hilarius grew up in a wealthy pagan family, studied philosophy and rhetoric, as was customary at the time, and then became a Roman official. In 345 he was baptized with his wife and daughter, and five years later the small Christian community of Pictavium (Poitiers) elected him their bishop. He was the first bishop of Poitiers known by name. In this capacity he baptized Martin of Tours in 351 .

Soon he had to take a stand in the Arian dispute. In a letter to Emperor Constantius II , he warned him to refrain from his policy of coercion, which he had shown in the councils of Arles and Milan . In the Council of Beziers Hilarius was one of the few who refused to condemn Athanasius, whereupon he was exiled to Phrygia by Emperor Constantius in 356, as had already happened to other Nicene bishops of the west who had contradicted Constantius at a council.

In Phrygia Hilarius had the opportunity to study the Church Fathers and the teachings of the East up close. He also wrote two Latin treatises on the Trinity ( De Synodis and De Trinitate ) to make the bishops of the West understand what the dispute was about. The Arian bishops of Phrygia, supported by the emperor, regarded Hilary's teaching and writing activities as a nuisance under their eyes.

The "semi-Arians", seeing how fearlessly he criticized Arianism, thought that it could help them in their cause, and invited him to the Council of Seleucia in 359 . Hilary criticized their point of view there sharply, whereupon they dismissed him before the end of the council.

When he then wrote another letter to Constantius in response to the Council of Constantinople of 360, in which he offered to defend his faith publicly before him and a council, the latter came to the conclusion that this “sower of disunity and troublemaker of the East “Probably would cause less harm in Gaul than in the east, and ended his exile. Nobody ordered Hilary to return home by the quickest route, however, so he traveled through Illyria and Italy in peace, preaching against Arianism everywhere along the way.

On his return he was received as a hero of the Nicene faith. A council in Paris in 361 under his leadership excommunicated Saturninus of Arles, who had presided over the councils of Arles and Beziers on behalf of the emperor.

meaning

Hilary played an essential role in conveying Eastern theology to the Latin world, and vice versa. Like Ambrose of Milan , he mastered both Greek and Latin. He is one of those Latin church fathers who are still very much valued in the Orthodox Church to this day.

In addition to theology, he had got to know something else in the East: Christian hymns. In the West, only psalms and Bible texts had been set to music so far. Hilary was probably the first to write Latin hymns.

Fridolin von Säckingen , who initially worked in Poitiers in Gaul, raised the bones of St. Hilary of Poitiers and built a church.

Fonts

Lucubrationes, 1523
  • Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew . Probably the oldest work and the only one that has nothing to suggest that it was written by a bishop; thus probably written before Hilarius' episcopal ordination.
  • De Synodis (On the Councils)
  • De Trinitate (On the Trinity)
  • Tractatus super Psalmos (Treatise on the Psalms)

Remembrance day

January 13th is Hilary's funeral day.

In 1851 he was from Pius IX. declared a Doctor of the Church .

Hilarius is the patron saint of Poitiers, La Rochelle and Luçon; of weak children and against snakebite.

He is the namesake of numerous churches .

In his honor, four parishes in the Swiss canton of Zurich celebrate Hilari , a carnival-like festival, around January 13th .

literature

Web links

Commons : Hilarius of Poitiers  - collection of images
predecessor Office successor
Agon Bishop of Poitiers
349-367 		Pascentius
personal data
SURNAME Hilary of Poitiers
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop and Doctor of the Church
DATE OF BIRTH at 315
PLACE OF BIRTH Poitiers
DATE OF DEATH 367
Place of death Poitiers