Hilarion
Life and witness
In Cyprus, the birth-day of St. Hilarion, abbot, whose life, full of virtues and miracles, St. Jerom has left written.At Cullen, the birth-day of the Saints Ursula, and her companions, who for the Christian religion, and constant in keeping their virginity, being killedby the Huns, ended their lives by martyrdom; and very many of their bodies were buried at Cullen.
Biographical overview
Hilarion (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. 251–356). While Anthony is considered to have established Christian monasticism in the Egyptian Desert, Hilarion, who lived in the coastal area near Gaza, is considered by his biographer Jerome (c. 342/347 – 420), to be the founder of Palestinian monasticism – regarding this claim see also Hilarion's contemporary, Chariton (mid-3rd century – c. 350), founder of monasticism in the Judaean Desert. Hilarion is venerated as a saint exemplifying monastic virtues by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
Martyrologium Romanum · Latin witness
In Cypro natalis sancti Hilarionis Abbatis, cujus vitam, virtutibus atque miraculis plenam, sanctus Hieronymus scripsit.