Deacon Leah Sandwell-Weiss

Dear friends,

[The] Lord’s teaching is his desire,
and His teaching he murmurs day and night.

Psalm 1 (Robert Alter trans.), Morning Prayer, January 13, 2025

Hilary of Poitiers grew up in a wealthy non-Christian family in the 300s in Poitiers. He was well-educated in Greek philosophy, but after studying the Old and New Testament, he recognized that Christianity offered a better way of life than Neoplatonism.

He was baptized around age 30. I think that, like many of the saints and holy men and women we recognize throughout the year, Psalm 1 reflects Hilary’s life.

The Church in Hilary’s time was split between two major factions—those supporting Trinitarian beliefs and the Nicene Creed, and those supporting Arianism, which rejected the traditional notion of the Trinity and considered Jesus to be a creation of God and thus, not equal to God.

Hillary was a strong Trinitarian and wrote and spoke eloquently about his beliefs and against Arianism. For his efforts, he was chosen, somewhat against his will, to be a Trinitarian Bishop of Poitiers.

He continued writing and speaking about the correctness of Trinitarianism against Arianism as bishop, which did not sit well with the emperor who was Arian. Hilary was eventually exiled to part of Turkey, which was heavily Arian. Perhaps the emperor thought this would teach him the error of his ways.

But no. While in exile, Hilary kept researching and writing about the Trinity. He also met with, listened to, and then wrote about Arian bishops so he could understand and share their thinking.

He actually found that some of the differences were a matter of the words being used, not the ideas behind them, and argued for moderating some anti-Arian actions. After around four years in exile, the emperor sent him back to Poitiers because the Arian bishops were afraid he was a “bad” influence on their followers.

Hilary had a great influence on what became the Roman church because he wrote in Latin instead of Greek. He continued his work upon his return to Poitiers and wrote many theological works, commentaries on scripture, and histories. He also was a compassionate pastor to the people of Poitiers.

Keep us steadfast, Lord God, in that true faith that we professed at our baptism; that, like your servant Hilary of Poitiers, we may rejoice in having you for our Father, and may abide in your Son, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; for you live and reign for ever and ever as one God in Trinity of Persons. Amen.

—Deacon Leah