Saint Hilarius of Aquileia, also Hilary of Aquileia ( it, Ilario d'Aquileia, also ''Ellaro'' or ''Elaro'') (d. 16 March, c. 284) was an early

Bishop of Aquileia A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

. He is supposed to have been the second bishop of

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

, succeeding Hermagoras. During the persecution of

Numerian Numerian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Numerius Numerianus; died November 284) was Roman emperor from 283 to 284 with his older brother Carinus. They were sons of Carus, a general raised to the office of praetorian prefect under Emperor Probus in 282 ...

he was tortured to death under the prefect Beronius. Before his death Hilarius's prayers brought about the collapse of the pagan temples in

and the images of the gods they contained, to which he had refused to sacrifice. His martyrdom was shared by his

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

Tatianus, otherwise Tatian, with whom Hilarius's name is often linked, as in the dedication of

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

Cathedral, and also by their companions Felix, Largus and Dionysius. The feast day of Hilarius and companions is 16 March, the date of their martyrdom.

References

Saints SPQN: Hilary of Aquileia

BBKL: Hilarius von Aquileia

Santi e Beati

Dizionario biografico friulano
280s deaths 3rd-century Christian martyrs Saints from Roman Italy Bishops of Aquileia Year of birth unknown {{italy-RC-bishop-stub