The Stained Glass Windows of Ascension: St. Hilary of Poitiers

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This is the fifth in a 12-part series on our stained glass windows in Ascension Catholic Church.

St. Hilary was born in 310 AD and elected bishop of Poitiers, France around the year 353 AD. He became the leading and most respected Latin theologian of his age. Seeking to immunize the church against the infection of the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ, he wrote an extensive treatise titled, On the Trinity, which is perhaps his most famous work. St. Hilary explains, “There is no space where God is not; space does not exist apart from Him. He is in heaven, in hell, beyond the seas; dwelling in all things and enveloping all. Thus, He embraces, and is embraced by, the universe, confined to no part of it but pervading all.” It is with this truth that “In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).”

This call to intimacy with God is echoed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it states, “Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ... God calls us all to this intimate union with him” (CCC 2014).

Hilary died in 367 and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church 15 centuries later by Pope Pius IX.

St. Hilary was chosen for this window as a token of honor and gratitude to the Bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck, the Most Reverend Hilary Hacker, when the windows were installed in 1984.

When spending time in front of this window of St. Hilary, ask yourself these questions — How intimate is my relationship with God? Do I feel God’s presence at all times? Where do I feel God’s presence most vividly? In what ways do I live out my vocation to holiness? How can I do better?

Let us pray with St. Hilary when he implores, “I am well aware, almighty God and Father, that in my life I owe you a most particular duty. It is to make my every thought and word speak of you. Father, keep us from vain strife of words. Grant to us constant profession of the Truth! Preserve us in a true and undefiled faith so that we may hold fast to that which we professed when we were baptized, that we may have Thee for our Father, that we may abide in Thy Son and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Amen”

St. Hilary explains, “There is no space where God is not; space does not exist apart from Him. He is in heaven, in hell, beyond the seas; dwelling in all things and enveloping all. Thus, He embraces, and is embraced by, the universe, confined to no part of it but pervading all.”