Authors, Apropos, and AKAs

St. Hilary of Poitiers, aka “the Hammerer of the Arians” and “the
Athanasius of the West”, lived in the same time as St. Ephrem the Deacon.
Both are not only very good Catholic authors but also considered official
teachers or Doctors of the Church in the Catholic faith.

St. Hilary studied philosophy and then pursued Christianity after reading
the Bible.  He was baptized, got married, and had a daughter named Apra.
The people of Poitiers wanted him to be their bishop, but St. Hilary
declined in humility. History tells us that the insistence of the people
soon led to his assent and events proved him to be the excellent choice
the people conceived him to be.

Though St. Hilary started writing simply - as was the case with his
commentary on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, events again in the Church
propelled him in a different direction: making him the Church’s defense
against Arianism.  This led to his waging battles against the Arian
leaders and his eventual exile to Phrygia.

In his exile of four years, St. Hilary wrote his masterpiece - twelve
“books” (more like long chapters) of De Trinitate (On the Trinity).
He was then released back to Gaul and returned to his diocese - welcomed
by one of his disciples, Martin [soon to become St. Martin of Tours].
He then got involved in a final battle with the Arians in Milan,
engaging Arian bishop Auxentius in a public debate. St. Hilary won this
battle and then afterwards settled down to a more peaceful life.

St. Hilary continued to write, writing on the Scriptures - more
particularly on the Psalms.  His other treatises were De synodis and
Opus historicum.

St. Hilary passed away ca. 386, and was proclaimed Doctor of the Church
by Pope Pius IX in 1851.

St. Hilary was one of the leading and most respected theologians of his
times.  An apropos to the soundness of his theology is the following
passage taken from “On the Trinity”:

“In the sacrament of his body he [Christ] actually gives us his own flesh,
which he has united to his divinity. This is why we are all one, because
the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in us. He is in us through his
flesh and we are in him. With him we form a unity which is in God.”

It may have been St. Hilary’s gift to know much of the truth on the
Trinity because of his mission to defend the Church against Arianism.
Among his peers he was also much respected - most especially by St.
Augustine of Hippo and St. Jerome.  His eloquence was much noted by
them and St. Hilary, aka “the illustrious Doctor of the Churches” and
“the trumpet of the Latins against the Arians”, led the Church well
during a very tumultuous period in history.