A daughter of Saint Hilary of Poitier before his conversion from paganism, she became a nun at the advice of her father and was noted for her good works. She died young at age 17 or 18 in 360, shortly after her father returned from exile for his resistance to the Arian Emperor Constantius. Her mother died shortly after her, and one can only imagine the grief of her father.
His father wrote for his daughter a splendid hymn to Christ, one of the first examples of a Latin Christian hymn:
Lucis largitor splendide
| Lucis largitor splendide, cuius sereno lumine post lapsa noctis tempora dies refusus panditur. |
O splendid Giver of the light, Though darkness covered earth before, Now that the gloomy night has passed, Thy brightness fills the sky once more. |
| Tu verus mundi lucifer, non is qui parvi sideris venturae lucis nuntius angusto fulget lumine, |
Thou art the world’s true Morning Star, Not that which dimly in the night Is herald of the dawn to come And shines with only meager light, |
| Sed toto sole clarior, lux ipse totus et dies, interna nostri pectoris illuminans praecordia. |
But brighter even than the sun, The clearest Light and Day thou art, Enlightening with blazing rays The inner depths of mind and heart. |
| Evincat mentis castitas quae caro cupit arrogans, sanctumque puri corporis delubrum servet Spiritus. |
Let chastity of mind prevail, And let not baser wants endure, But send the Holy Ghost to keep The temple of our bodies pure. |
| Sit, Christe, rex piissime, tibi Patrique gloria cum Spiritu Paraclito in sempiterna saecula. |
To thee, O Christ, our gracious king, And to thy Father, glory be, Who with the Spirit Paraclete Forever reign in majesty |
