Hilarion

Who they were

Hilarion was born of pagan parents at Tabatha near Gaza around 291 and sent to study at Alexandria, where he became a Christian. At fifteen, drawn by the fame of St Anthony, he spent two months with him in the desert, then went home, gave his fortune to the poor and lived as a hermit in a hut in the desert near Gaza, fasting, weaving baskets and praying.

The founder of the hermit life in Palestine, he became famous for healings, and in later years moved from place to place seeking solitude, dying in Cyprus around 371. St Jerome wrote his life.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Hilarion has been honoured as a saint since his death. The cures attributed to him are recorded by St Jerome and were never formally examined.

Why that counted as sanctity

Hilarion gave up everything to seek God alone in the desert, and brought the monastic life of Egypt to Palestine.

Connected on this site

• Anthony the Great Saint
  “291 – 371), also known by the bynames of Thavata, of Gaza and, in the Orthodox Church, as the Great, was a Christian anchorite who spent most of his life in the desert according to the example of Anthony the Great (c.” — Wikipedia