1. Hilarion is venerated as a saint exemplifying monastic virtues by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
17 Facts About Hilarion
1. 2.
Hilarion was born around 291 to pagan parents in Tabatha, a village five miles north of Gaza.
3.
Hilarion was at least bilingual, speaking both Greek as well as Aramaic which was common around Gaza.
4.
Hilarion then established himself as a hermit in the desert inland from the coastal road, seven miles from Maiuma, the port of Gaza.
5.
Hilarion wove baskets as he had learned in Egypt where this was a common monastic occupation.
6.
In one instance, Hilarion was able to heal the three children of Helpidius, who would later become praetorian prefect In Bethelea, Hilarion healed miraculously a certain Alaphion, which led to the conversion of the prominent family of the historian Sozomen.
7.
Hilarion remained in Gaza until three years after the death of Anthony, upon which he went to the place where Anthony had died in Egypt in order to escape the crowds that visited him.
8.
Jerome's and Sozomen's account differs slightly as Jerome writes that Hilarion escaped arrest in Egypt and lived there until Julian's death before travelling to Sicily, Hilarion went according to Sozomen directly to Sicily.
9.
Hilarion was welcomed in Cyprus by his old disciple Epiphanius who encouraged him to stay.
10.
Hilarion initially settled near Paphos but later retired to a more remote place twelve miles away.
11.
Sozomen reports that after Hilarion's body was interred at his monastery, the local population started to celebrate an annual festival at the place.
12.
Hilarion's relics continued to be venerated and are mentioned by the anonymous Piacenza Pilgrim around the year 570.
13.
Hilarion was venerated from early time in both East and West as an example of monastic holiness.
14.
Hilarion is the patron saint of Caulonia, a southern Italian town in Calabria, under the name Sant'Ilario.
15.
Hilarion's life is mentioned in the third, fifth and sixth book of Sozomen's Ecclesiastical history, which was written in the 440s.
16.
Whereas in the third book no new information to Jerome's Life of Hilarion is added and is in parts less detailed, Sozomen adds new information in the fifth and sixth books, possibly thanks to his local sources and own family history.
17.
Hilarion is mentioned twice in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.