St Hilarion

Hilarion grew up in a family who did not believe in God. When he was a teenager, he went to study in Alexandria in Egypt, one of the places where there were first Christians. While he was there, he heard about Jesus. After hearing the good news, he fell in love with Jesus, was baptized, and started to live a Christian life. He turned away from evil and spent his time learning about Jesus and going to Church. He wanted to get away from the distractions of the world around him, so he decided to go to the desert to spend time with St. Anthony. St. Anthony was very popular during that time; many people would visit him to learn about Jesus and ask for healing from sickness. After being with St. Anthony, he went back home to see his family. He learned that his parents had died while he was away, so he gave all his money to his brothers and went to the wilderness in order to find a peaceful place where he could focus on Jesus. He moved from place to place, never calling anywhere home and living very simply with only the clothes he was wearing and eating one small meal a day. When he finally did settle in one place, he made a very small hut where he lived with only the little he had. He would make many sacrifices to try to get closer to Jesus and to fight the temptation to sin. He performed miracles, healing a women who could not have children, curing 3 children who were very sick, and casting out evil spirits in people.