SAINT HILARY OF OISÉ, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR

SAINT HILARY OF OISÉ, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR - 1 JULY

Saints celebrated on the 1st of July

SAINT HILARY OF OISÉ, PRIEST AND CONFESSOR

A page of one of Fortunatus Hueber's
Saints' books,
"Stammenbuch..." (1693)

According to the tradition of the Diocese of Le Mans (apud Cenomanos), this Confessor lived and died in the small village of Oisé (Aviciacum), between Le Mans and la Flèche, which is why he is surnamed Aviciacensis.

Saint Hilary (Hilarius Aviciacensis) allegedly flourished at the end of the 4th century. A biography of him is not available. Tradition relates that he was related to Bishop Hilary of Poitiers and ordained by him.

When the latter was exiled to Phrygia by the Arians, our Saint Hilary, too, had to take up the walking staff. He arrived at the Le Mans region, where Bishop Victurius gave Hilary the order to evangelise the surrounding villages. This he did, strong in word and deed; he healed the sick and crippled and worked other miracles. Hilary's death took place at Oisé.

However, the Bollandist Sollerius* reckons that this tradition has only a very small degree of probability, because it is generally assumed that Saint Hilary of Oisé lived at a later date. Castellanus* and Migne*, too, list him with the year 535.

His public veneration, on the other hand, cannot be contested - nor the elevation of his relics. In A.D. 841 Bishop Aldric of Le Mans, the 23rd in the line of bishops of that See, had Hilary's relics solemnly transferred to a church built for his veneration in Le Mans.

But a part of them is said to have been left in Oisé. Later, in 1640, their authenticity was officially confirmed once more. These relics escaped the Huguenots unscathed. This was due to the fact that they were kept in a pretty simple wooden reliquary, and the Huguenots' thirst for the Church's gold and valuables, guised under the cloak of religious zeal, was not quenched by mere wooden boxes.

The veneration of the saint has therefore continued uninterrupted since the earliest times, and the Bollandist Sollerius* confirms that the local church in Oisé was still dedicated to this our Saint Hilary.

Saint Hilary is also commemorated September 23.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 727)

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Hilary may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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