Saint Hilary of Poitiers is the patron saint of children with disabilities, against rheumatism and snake bites. St. Hilary was a fourth-century philosopher and a defender of Orthodox Trinitarian theology. His writings indicate that he was born to a pagan family in present-day France, probably around 310 AD. He grew up without significant Christian influence but received a comprehensive education in the Greek and Latin classics, Greek philosophy, and the Bible. He accepted the truth of the Bible by realizing its compatibility with science and philosophy and received baptism in 345 AD.
Around 353 AD, the people of Poitiers called for him to be their bishop. He was already married and had a daughter. Once ordained, Hilary followed an ascetic path, a radically simplified lifestyle akin to monasticism. As a Bishop, he valiantly fought Arianism and solely defended Christ's divinity in the southern French region of Gaul. Consequently, Emperor Constantius II declared Hilary's exile from Gaul. In exile, he wrote his most important work, "On the Trinity," showing the Bible's consistent witness to the central mystery of the Christian faith. He also showed great charity toward those he believed were honestly mistaken, supporting what was correct in their understanding and leading them into full compliance with tradition.
After the death of the Emperor in 361 AD, Hilary returned to his diocese at Poitiers. Once exiled for opposing Arianism in Gaul, he lived to see it condemned in the local Church. St. Hilary died at Poitiers in 367 AD after passing on his teachings and way of life to several students, including St. Martin of Tours. Long regarded and celebrated as a defender of faith, St. Hilary was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1851.
St. Hilary, pray for us to rightly understand and truthfully profess the divinity of Jesus, which you taught with such conviction.
Prepared and updated by:
Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Penampang, Sabah Malaysia.
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