Today, January 13, is the memorial of Saint Hilary of Poitiers.
Bishop and Doctor of the Church.
Hilary, whose name in Latin means happy, was born in 310 in Pictavium, Gaul (now modern-day Poitiers, France). His parents were well-known pagans, and so Hilary was raised and educated in a pagan environment. Hilary would later convert to Christianity, together with his wife and daughter St. Abra.
His reputation for holiness made Hilary very popular, so much so that the people of Poitiers elected him bishop. As bishop, Hilary opposed the Arian heresy.
When Hilary refused to sign a condemnation of Athanasius, the Arian emperor Constantius (one of the sons of Constantine) banished him to Phrygia in 357. His exile lasted three years, during which time he wrote several essays, including ‘On The Trinity.’ Hilary distinguished himself as a fierce defender of the Holy Trinity.
The Emperor was forced to send him back to Gaul because he was causing such difficulties for the Arians in the East. In 364, he traveled to Milan, where he engaged in public debate with the Arian bishop of Milan, Auxentius, and persuaded him of the error of his ways. St. Jerome wrote that Hilary died in Poitiers in 367.