If we ever build another major hospital in Boise, I have a suggestion for its name. I think it should be called "Saint Hilarius".
Yes, there really was a Saint Hilarius. In fact, during the latter part of his life, he was Pope Hilarius.
Saint Hilarius probably lived his entire life in Italy in the fifth century, but we don't know for sure when he was born. Calendars weren't exactly uniform in the fifth century, and neither were birth records. But we do know that he died at the Vatican in the year 468.
Here's the other thing I know about Saint Hilarius: his life was boring. I mean really boring. Or at least his biography is boring. When I heard there was a Saint Hilarius, I figured there would exist an interesting tale of his life and miracles. I assumed it would be similar to the stories of other saints, like Saint Francis of Assisi, Joan of Arc, Saint Nicholas, Saint Patrick or Saint Valentine. In other words, memorable. It wasn't.
This is the explanation of why Saint Hilarius is a saint: "As archdeacon under Pope Leo I, Hilarius fought vigorously for the rights of the Roman See and vigorously opposed the condemnation of Flavian of Constantinople at the Second Council of Ephesus in 449 to settle the question of Eutyches."
I have no idea what any of that means, but apparently, in the fifth century, you could become a saint if you did everything vigorously.
It would be appropriate, I think, if Hilarius were the patron saint of comedians. He's not. In fact, he's not the patron saint of anything in particular.
The patron saint of comedians is Saint Genesius, who committed his life to Christianity during an onstage performance around the year 286 and was subsequently beheaded by the emperor.
I don't know if anybody laughed.
