Day 14: 1/14/13- Celebrate the Feast of St. Hilary of Poitiers

Day 14: 1/14/13

New Thing:  Celebrate the Feast of St. Hilary of Poitiers by praying Evening Prayer in Latin 

Inspiration: St. Hilary—Bishop of Poitiers, Teacher of the Faith, and Doctor of the Church
Time: About a half an hour
Bottom Line: It was a delight to celebrate this most beautifully designated Saint who is a credit to the name! 

Reflection: Today is the most illustrious of all Saint's Day's--The Feast of St. Hilary of Poitiers! Well, technically, the 13th was his feast day, but since it was the Baptism of our Lord fell on that day (how rude, Jesus!) his feast is transferred to today. Here is the a little introduction from the first time I celebrated my Patronal Feast here on 365 in 2011 (as found in this post):

Even though I was not exactly named after St. Hilary (you will notice, I am sure that he spells his name with but one “L”), he has been one of my favorites for years, and not just because of his awesome name (although I think we can all agree, it is indeed magnificent). There was a point in my childhood when I kept asking my parish priest week after week if there was a St. Hill. Finally, out of what I assume was exasperation for this precocious little would-be-hagiographer, he loaned me his “Big Book of Saints” and advised me to “look it up!” What I found delighted me.

First of all, Hilary was a theologian and a scholar of the highest degree. However, he did not simply use his scholarly wisdom to write tomes. Instead his studies changed his life and the life of the Church Catholic. Celebrating the Saints has this to say about Hilary’s life (I have linked to topics of note that are very interesting but to lengthy for this post):

Hilary was born at Poitier in about the year 313; his family, though pagan, gave him an excellent education and he was proficient in Latin and Greek. After extensive personal study, he tells us that he was baptized at the age of thirty. He was elected bishop of the city in the year 350 and immediately became caught up in the Arian controversy, himself asserting that mortals of this world were created to practice moral virtues, thus reflecting the One in whose image they are made, the eternal and creative first cause, God; and that Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God is of one substance with the Father. His learning and oratory lead to his title of “Athanasius of the West”. He was known as a gentile, kind friend to all, even though his writings seemed sever at times. He dies in the year 367. 

So, not only did Hilary come to know and believe in God through his reason and study, he also helped to defend the church through his knowledge of the Trinity! His dedication to using his intellect to know and serve Christ has lead me to pursue Doctoral work. 

The second reason that I love Hilary is that he was not only a scholar, but also a gifted musician and poet. He wrote hundreds of hymns and we have two of them in our Episcopal Hymnal 1982. For 2011, I learned one of his hymns (#224). Last year, I learned a new musical setting of a Psalm while at Drew doing Doctoral work which, as I mentioned above, is partially inspired by his witness. 

This year, I decided to try something that would honor his knowledge of Latin--something that I have a very limited grasp of and all in ecclesiastical form. I used the form for Vespers found here and read the whole thing outloud to the best of my woeful abilities. While some of it was frustrating, I found myself imagining what it must have been like for all of the church goers who have heard these words (with perhaps equally limited understanding) over the years and how I joined with them through this common tongue. I also had some moments of beauty when I would hear words that I knew! They would help to locate the parts of the service I was in and were touchstones of grace and revelation as I finally saw (or heard) beyond some of the mystery that veiled my understanding. I would say them with stronger convention that I probably would in a normal Evening Prayer service since I could claim them as my own. 

Here is Hilary's Collect: 
 

  O Lord our God, who didst raise up thy servant Hilary to be a champion of the catholic faith: Keep us steadfast in that true faith which we professed at our baptism, that we may rejoice in having thee for our Father, and may abide in thy Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; thou who livest and reignest for ever and ever. 

 

P.S.  He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" which is such a great nick-name. I have been trying for 3 years to find things that I could be "The Hammer" of. Such as, "Hammer Latin" or "The Hammer of Play-dough" (which I made a batch of for Delia). So far, nothing. :(

P.P.S.- Our name comes from the Greek word for happy or cheerful. My Chippewa name is "Laughing Child" so I assume my tribe knew what they were doing.