Venerable Hilarion the Great

Venerable Hilarion the Great was born c. 291 into a pagan family in the village of Thabatha near Gaza, Palestine. He studied in Alexandria, where he converted to Christianity. At age 15, hearing of St. Anthony the Great, he traveled to the Egyptian desert and spent about two months at his side, striving to imitate his teacher in all things. Around 306, after his parents' deaths, he distributed his inheritance to the poor and settled as a hermit seven miles south of the port city of Maiuma. He is regarded as the founder of Palestinian monasticism — before him, no monasteries existed in Palestine and no one in Syria knew of monks. Ascetics gradually gathered around his solitary cell, forming scattered desert communities under his spiritual guidance. He became renowned for miracles and healings. Late in life, fleeing fame, he withdrew to Cyprus, settling near Paphos with his disciple Hesychius. He died c. 371; buried on Cyprus, his relics were later translated by his disciple to the monastery he had founded in Palestine. His Life was written by St. Jerome c. 391.