Deepertruth: Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Hilarion The Great

 Stand In The Gap With Us And Saint Hilarion The Great 10/21/2023

Saint Hilarion or Ilarion, as he was known, was born in the village of Tabatha in 291 A.D, about five miles south of Gaza, Palestine. He grew, according to the proverb, like a rose from a thorn, because he was born into a family that worshiped idols.

Saint Hilarion, (born c. ad 291, Tabatha, Palestine [near modern Gaza]—died 371, Cyprus; feast day October 21), monk and mystic who founded Christian monasticism in Palestine modeled after the Egyptian tradition.

Miracles. Miracles were attributed to him. His first miracle was when he cured a woman from Eleutheropolis (a Roman city in Syria Palaestina) who had been barren for 15 years. Later, he cured three children of a fatal illness, healed a paralysed charioteer, and expelled demons.

After his conversion to Christianity, he spent some time with Saint Anthony of Egypt, another holy man drawn to solitude. Hilarion lived a life of hardship and simplicity in the desert, where he also experienced spiritual dryness that included temptations to despair. At the same time, miracles were attributed to him.

Despite his best efforts to live in prayer and solitude, today’s saint found it difficult to achieve his deepest desire. People were naturally drawn to Hilarion as a source of spiritual wisdom and peace. He had reached such fame by the time of his death that his body had to be secretly removed so that a shrine would not be built in his honor. Instead, he was buried in his home village.