PEACE ON EARTH

GOODWILL TOWARD ALL MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN, BORN AND UNBORN

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Happy Feast Day- Saint Hilary

of Poitiers.

It's All Saints Day. All Day. For All the Saints. Happy All Saints Day to You.
Including Saint Hilary of Poitiers. Who? Google him- I dare you.
I thought Hilary Clinton should take courage after that ridiculous bashem smashemknockem sockem robot disgrace of a debate the other night. Clean up your misogynist act people. We women don't like it. We are over 60% of the Democratic Party according to that home boy from Philly Chris Matthews. Not nice fellas.

In the early days of the Church, there was a dispute of some import concerning whether Jesus was really from God and thus of the same essence as God, as John indicated that in the beginning was the Word. It is pretty undisputed well established Christian doctrine now that In the beginning was the Word (logos, raison d'etre, telos) which was God and was with God such that not anything good made was made without him. He, the Lord was in the beginning, "coexistent and consubstantial" with God in the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not so well established in the 4th Century however.
This fact/doctrine was disputed by the Arians, now considered heretical in the 300s AD. Saint Hilary took them to task and wrote how off their rockers they were. When anyone stands firm and tries to tell people how off their rockers they are, how out of the divine will and plan they are, they get bashed- persecuted, in Saint Hilary's case, banished even for a time.
He was recognized as brilliant and appointed the Bishop of Poitiers in France. There is a great University in that town now. What I love about him is that he was married with a daughter at the time that he was made a Bishop. He was made eventually (centuries later) one of the hallowed "Doctors" of the church. A married Bishop with a daughter. Nothing about being married with a daughter and having a wife apparently stopped the church from considering him utterly brilliant and necessary to the development of right doctrine as it pertained to fighting off the Arian heresy. Why would it?
Sometimes people with bold conviction get bashed- rockem sockem robot smashed. Usually their message gets distorted. Generally they get misquoted, defamed and targetted by jealous people who try to rockem sockem smash them.

But She Who Endures To The End Shall Be Saved. It's a promise.

The Bishop of Poitiers (Bishop being almost as big a deal as President) was exhiled, where he prolifically wrote witnessing the truth, eventually toured round back through Greece and Italy back to France and was eventually rightly reinstalled as the Bishop of Poitiers, France. He is credited with being the Father of Latin Hymns for having written volumes of them. Fun Fact about Saint Hilary- Anglican England even honors his memory in this fashion:

The spring term at the Law Courts in England and at Oxford University are named for him--the Hilary Term--as are at least three English churches.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Pray For Us.

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