St. Hilary of Arles

St. Hilary of Arles (c. 403 – 449) was a bishop of Arles in southern Gaul who came from a noble family and, under the influence of his kinsman St. Honoratus, renounced worldly prospects for the monastic life at the famous island monastery of Lérins. When Honoratus became bishop of Arles, Hilary followed him there and succeeded him in the see around 429, while still a young man.

As bishop he lived with rigorous monastic austerity, worked with his own hands, preached tirelessly, and gave himself to the poor, even selling church plate and sacred vessels to ransom captives. His zeal in asserting the rights of his see over other Gallic bishops brought him into a celebrated jurisdictional conflict with Pope St. Leo the Great, yet his personal holiness and charity were never in doubt. He wrote a moving life of St. Honoratus, and is honored as a saint of the early Church in Gaul.