Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

Feast date: May 05

On May 5, Catholics celebrate Saint Hilary of Arles, a fifth-century bishop who gave up wealth and privilege in favor of austerity and sacrifice for the sake of the Church.

Hilary was born during the year 401, most likely in the present-day French region of Loraine. He came from a wealthy background and received a traditional aristocratic education in philosophy and rhetoric, which he expected to put to use in a secular career.

One of Hilary’s relatives, Honoratus, had founded a monastery in Lerins and given his life to the service of the Church. Honoratus was deeply concerned for Hilary’s salvation, and urged him with tears to abandon worldly pursuits for the sake of following Christ.

“On one side,” Hilary later recalled, “I saw the Lord calling me; on the other the world offering me its seducing charms and pleasures. How often did I embrace and reject, will and not will the same thing!”

“But in the end Jesus Christ triumphed in me. And three days after Honoratus had left me, the mercy of God, solicited by his prayers, subdued my rebellious soul.”

Hilary returned to his relative, humbling himself as Honoratus’ disciple and embracing his life of prayer, asceticism, and Scripture study. He sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and wholeheartedly embraced the monastic life of the community in Lerins.

In 426, Honoratus became the Archbishop of Arles. Hilary initially followed him, but soon returned to the monastery at Lerins. Honoratus, however, insisted on having the assistance of his relative and disciple, and traveled to Lerins himself to retrieve him.

When Honoratus died in 429, Hilary again attempted to leave Arles and return to his monastery. But the faithful of the city sent out a search party and had him brought back, so that he could be consecrated as Honoratus’ successor.

Though he was not yet 30 years old, the new archbishop was well-prepared by his years in religious life and the time spent assisting his predecessor. As archbishop, he maintained the simplicity of a monk. He owned few possessions, put the poor ahead of himself, and continued to do manual labor.

Known for his kindness and charity, the archbishop was also remembered for publicly rebuking a government official who brought shame on the Church. He also warned lukewarm believers that they would “not so easily get out of hell, if you are once unhappily fallen into its dungeons.”

Hilary helped to establish monasteries in his diocese, and strengthened the discipline and orthodoxy of the local Church through a series of councils. He sold Church property in order to pay the ransoms of those who had been kidnapped, and is said to have worked miracles during his lifetime.

St. Hilary of Arles died on May 5, 449. Although his life was marked by some canonical disputes with Pope St. Leo I, the Pope himself praised the late Archbishop of Arles in a letter to his successor, honoring him as “Hilary of holy memory.”

Feast date: May 05

May 5 is the feast of Blessed Edmund Rice, an Irish businessman who was so moved by the plight of children in the port city where he worked that he founded schools and eventually a religious order to serve them.

Edmund was born in 1762 in Callan, Ireland. As a young man, he moved to Waterford and began to work for his uncle in the shipping business. He became quite wealthy, and when his uncle died, he took over as head of the company.

When his wife passed away and his daughter grew up, Edmund began to contemplate the next direction he should take in life. He thought about leaving everything behind and joining a monastery. However, one day, as he was talking about his vocation and his future with a friend, a ragged group of poor boys walked by on the street. Inspired by the sight, his friend exclaimed: "What! Would you bury yourself in a cell on the continent rather than devote your wealth and your life to the spiritual and material interest of these poor youths?"

Edmund took the conversation as a sign from God. He took on the mission of improving the lives of poor children through education. He founded his first school in Waterford, Ireland in 1802 with the intention of helping poor boys to “become good Catholics and good citizens.”

Selling his business, he immersed himself fully in this mission, and in 1808, he founded the Presentations Brothers, an order of men dedicated to education, and the first order of men to be founded in Ireland. The rule of the community was approved in 1821 by the Pope, and the name was changed to the Christian Brothers. By 1825, Edmund and his 30 Christian Brothers were providing free education, clothing, and food to about 5,500 boys in 12 different towns.

Edmund served as the superior general of the community from its inception until 1838, when he retired at the age of 76. He died in 1844, and was beatified in 1996 by Pope John Paul II, who called him “an outstanding model of a true lay apostle.”