Dr. Augustin Sokolovski
On November 3 (October 21 according to the Julian calendar), the Church commemorates Saint Hilarion the Great (291-371), a fourth-century ascetic and one of the founding fathers of Palestinian monasticism, particularly the monastic tradition of Gaza. Today, Gaza is for us a land of danger and suffering. For the Church Fathers of the fourth century, however, it was a stronghold of paganism, where resistance to Christianity was especially fierce. All the greater, then, was Hilarion’s achievement: he laid the foundations of a monastic tradition that would eventually give rise to such a beloved ascetic and spiritual teacher as Abba Dorotheos.
Hilarion’s life was far from easy. In time, he received the gift of working miracles through divine grace. Yet this very gift made him a wanderer and a fugitive, forcing him to move from place to place. He was a friend of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus and spent the final days of his life on the island. Shortly before his death, he also visited the tomb of Saint Anthony the Great.
We owe the account of Hilarion’s life to another great ascetic, Saint Jerome, the renowned translator of the Bible. Through his writings, the memory of this remarkable fourth-century saint has been preserved for generations. Saints Hilarion, Anthony, Jerome, and Dorotheos, pray to God for us all!