𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟓 • 𝐒𝐭. 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬

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𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓

It’s been said that youth is wasted on the young. In some ways, that was true for today’s saint.

Born in France in the early fifth century, Hilary came from an aristocratic family. In the course of his education he encountered his relative, Honoratus, who encouraged the young man to join him in the monastic life. Hilary did so. He continued to follow in the footsteps of Honoratus as bishop. Hilary was only 29 when he was chosen bishop of Arles.

The new, youthful bishop undertook the role with confidence. He did manual labor to earn money for the poor. He sold sacred vessels to ransom captives. He became a magnificent orator. He traveled everywhere on foot, always wearing simple clothing.

That was the bright side. Hilary encountered difficulty in his relationships with other bishops over whom he had some jurisdiction. He unilaterally deposed one bishop. He selected another bishop to replace one who was very ill–but, to complicate matters, did not die! Pope Saint Leo the Great kept Hilary a bishop but stripped him of some of his powers.

Hilary died at 49. He was a man of talent and piety who in due time, had learned how to be a bishop.

𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑

𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘴, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘯