Saint Hilary in Ten Easy Points

Today is feast of Saint Hilary of Poiters (ca. A.D. 300-368). He is is a Doctor of the Universal Church, though not well known. Here’s a quick introduction to Saint Hilary in ten easy points:

1. Saint Hilary was the Bishop of Poiters and is one of the Doctors of the the Church.
2. He was called the Malleus Arianorum {“Hammer of the Arians”) because he wrote so vigorously against the heresy of Arius. Saint Hilary was a stalward defender of the full divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many have called him the “Athanasius of the West.”
3. Hilary was a married man and had one a daughter with his wife. They were a pagan family until they all converted to Catholicism together some time in the first half of the fourth century.
4. Hilary’s daughter is a also saint: Saint Abra.
5. In 353, Saint Hilary was elected bishop, even though he was a married man. Once he was consecrated as bishop, he and his wife lived in continence.
6. His two most important books are “Of the Eastern Faith” and “On the Trinity.” In these works, Saint Hilary translates the orthodox Eastern terminology into Latin in order to defend the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity.
7. Hilary was a poet and penned a number of Latin hymns.
8. Hilary was a Bible scholar and wrote full commentaries on the Psalms, Matthew, and Job.
9. Pope Pius IX declared Hilary as a Universal Doctor of the Church in 1851.
10. In Medieval universities, the term beginning in January is sometimes call the “Hilary term” since it begins on his feast day – January 13 or 14.