Hilary was a deacon and a trusted assistant to Pope Saint Leo the Great. He was sent to “Robber Synod” at Ephesus in 449 AD to report on the Monophysitism heresies of Eutyches which denied the humanity of Christ and claimed that He had only a divine nature, teaching condemned in 451 AD by the Council of Chalcedon.
Eutyches’ followers attacked the legate party and forced them to return to Rome. He later became an Arch-deacon in 455 AD. Hillary worked on an updated method of calculating the date of Easter and later Chosen 46th pope in 461 AD.
As a pope, Hilary confirmed the work of several general councils, rebuilt and remodeled many churches, fought Nestorianism and Arianism, and held several Councils at Rome. He is known for defending the rights of his bishops while exhorting them to curb their excesses and devote themselves more completely to God. Hilary helped define the Church‘s role in the empire, and affirmed the position of the pope and not the emperor, as the leader in spiritual matters.
He continued Leo I‘s vigorous policy strengthening the ecclesiastical government in Gaul and Spain. He started churches, convents, libraries, two public baths, and his synod of 465 AD is the earliest Roman synod whose records are extant.
February 28th Pope Saint Hilary
Moderators: Johnna, MarieT, Denise, KarlB
February 28th Pope Saint Hilary
Devotion to the souls in Purgatory contains in itself all the works of mercy, which supernaturalized by a spirit of faith, should merit us Heaven. de Sales