Founder of anchoritic life in Palestine; born at Tabatha, south of
Gaza, Palestine, about 291; died in the island of Cyprus about 371. The
chief source of information regarding him is the biography written by
St. Jerome (P.L. XXIII, 29-54). In the introduction Jerome mentions a
letter from St. Epiphanius, Archbishop of Salamis, in regard to the life
of Hilarion whom Epiphanius had known personally during the hermit's
later years. The letter is not extant. A newly discovered life has been
edited by Papadopulos-Kerameus (Analekta Ierosolymikes Stachyologias,
V, 1898). Some special circumstances regarding Hilarion are related by
the ecclesiastical historian, Sozomen, from oral traditions handed down
by Hilarion's disciples; among others that Sozomen's grandfather and
another relative were converted to Christianity by Hilarion (Hist.
Eccl., V. xv).
Hilarion was the son of pagan parents. The date of his birth is
ascertained from the statement of Jerome (Vita, c. xxv), that Hilarion,
at the death of Anthony (356), was 65 years old. As a boy Hilarion's
parents sent him to Alexandria to be educated in its schools. Here he
became a Christian, and at the age of fifteen, attracted by the renown
of the anchorite, St. Anthony, he retired to the desert. After two
months of personal intercourse with the great "Father of Anchorites",
Hilarion resolved to devote himself to the ascetic life of a hermit. He
returned home, divided his fortune among the poor, and then withdrew to a
little hut in the desert of Majuma, near Gaza, where he led a life
similar to that of St. Anthony. His clothing consisted of a hair shirt,
an upper garment of skins, and a short shepherd's cloak; he fasted
rigorously, not partaking of his frugal meal until after sunset, and
supported himself by weaving baskets. The greater part of his time was
devoted to religious exercises. Miraculous cures and exorcisms of demons
which he performed spread his fame in the surrounding country, so that
in 329 numerous disciples assembled round him. Many heathens were
converted, and people came to seek his help and counsel in such great
numbers that he could hardly find time to perform his religious duties.
This induced him to bid farewell to his disciples and to return to Egypt
about the year 360. Here he visited the places where St. Anthony had
lived and the spot where he had died. On the journey thither, he met
Dracontius and Philor, two bishops banished by the Emperor Constantius.
Hilarion then went to dwell at Bruchium, near Alexandria, but hearing
that Julian the Apostate had ordered his arrest, he retired to an oasis
in the Libyan desert. Later on he journeyed to Sicily and for a long
time lived as a hermit near the promontory of Pachinum. His disciple,
Hesychius, who had long sought him, discovered him here and soon
Hilarion saw himself again surrounded by disciples desirous of following
his holy example.
Leaving Sicily, he went to Epidaurus in Dalmatia, where, on the
occasion of a great earthquake (366), he rendered valuable assistance to
the inhabitants. Finally he went to Cyprus and there, in a lonely cave
in the interior of the island, he spent his last years. It was during
his sojourn in Cyprus that he became acquainted with St. Epiphanius,
Archbishop of Salamis. Before his death, which took place at the age of
eighty, Hilarion bequeathed his only possession, his poor and scanty
clothing, to his faithful disciple, Hesychius. His body was buried near
the town of Paphos, but Hesychius secretly took it away and carried it
to Majuma where the saint had lived so long. Hilarion was greatly
honored as the founder of anchoritic life in Palestine. His feast falls
on 21 October. The attempts of Israel and of other historians to
relegate Hilarion to the realm of imagination have completely failed;
there can be no doubt as to the historical fact of his life and the
truth of its chief features.
ST. JEROME, Vita S. Hilarionis in P.L., III, 29-54; Acta
SS., October, IX, 43- 59; ISRAEL, Die Vita S. Hilarionis des Hieronymus
in Zeitschrift fur wissenschaftl. Theol. (1880), 129 sqq.; ZOCKLER,
Hilarion von Gaza, eine Rettung in Neue Jahrbucher fur deutsche
Theologie (1894), 147 sqq.; GRUTZMACHER, Hieronymus, II (Berlin, 1906),
87-91; VAN DEN VEN, S. Jerome et la vie du moine Malchus (Louvain,
1901), appendixes; WINTER, Der literarische Charakter der Vita S.
Hilarionis (Zittau, 1904); SERVIERES, Histoire de S. Hilarion (Rodez,
1884); HEIMBUCHER, Die Orden und Kongregationen der kathol. Kirche, I
(2nd ed., Paderborn, 1907), 115 sq.
J.P. KIRSCH (Catholic Encyclopedia)
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