Saint of the Day, January 13

Saint Hilary (c. 310–367), bishop of Poitiers, is called the 'Athanasius of the West' for his unyielding defense of the Nicene faith against the Arian emperor Constantius. A married convert from a noble Gallo-Roman family, he was elected bishop by acclamation and almost immediately exiled to Phrygia, where the encounter with Eastern theology equipped him to write On the Trinity in twelve books — the first major Latin treatise on the doctrine. Returning to Gaul, he convened councils, mentored Martin of Tours, and composed some of the earliest Latin hymns. Pius IX declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1851.