Venerable Hilarion the New Abbot of the Dalmatian Monastery
d. 845
Also known as Hilarion of Dalmatos
Tonsured from boyhood, he became abbot of the Dalmatian monastery in Constantinople and, refusing to give up the holy icons, endured beatings and imprisonment under the iconoclast emperors.
Feast Day
June 6
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Our Venerable Father Hilarion the New, Abbot of the Dalmatian Monastery
Life
Hilarion the New was a ninth-century monastic leader and confessor who served as abbot (igumen) of the Dalmatus monastery in Constantinople during the second period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. Tonsured in boyhood and trained under Saint Gregory the Dekapolite, he refused successive imperial demands to abandon the veneration of the holy icons and endured imprisonment, beatings, and exile across the reigns of three iconoclast emperors before dying in peace in 845.
He is commemorated on June 6 and is distinguished from his near-contemporary namesake Hilarion the New of Pelekete, whose feast falls in late March.
Timeline 7 moments
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age 12Monastic tonsureThe son of pious parents named Peter and Theodosia, Hilarion was tonsured a monk at the age of twelve at the Hesychius monastery near Constantinople.
early 9th c.Dalmatus monastery and ordinationHe transferred to the Dalmatus monastery, where he received the Great Schema, became a disciple of Saint Gregory the Dekapolite, and was later ordained presbyter.
early 9th c.Elected abbotOn the death of a previous abbot he was elected igumen of the Dalmatus monastery. He at first fled to avoid the office, but Patriarch Nikephoros persuaded him to accept, and he guided the community peacefully for eight years.
813-820Persecution under Leo the ArmenianWhen the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian took the throne in 813, Hilarion refused to dishonor the holy icons and accused the emperor of heresy. He was imprisoned and subjected to many torments.
820-829Release under Michael IIThe emperor Michael II freed Hilarion from imprisonment, and the saint withdrew to a monastic cell.
829-842Exile under TheophilusUnder the iconoclast emperor Theophilus he was again placed under guard, beaten severely, and confined on the island of Aphousia.
845Return and reposeAfter the death of Theophilus, the Empress Theodora recalled the confessors from exile. Hilarion returned to lead the Dalmatus monastery once more and reposed peacefully in 845.
Contributions & Legacy
1 contributions
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Historical Context
Hilarion's monastic career unfolded during the second phase of Byzantine Iconoclasm, the imperial campaign against the veneration of religious images that resumed under Leo the Armenian in 815 and continued under Theophilus. As abbot of a prominent Constantinopolitan monastery, he was among the monastic confessors whose resistance to imperial policy carried personal cost, and whose release came only with the restoration of the icons under the Empress Theodora.
His formation linked him to Saint Gregory the Dekapolite, a noted monastic teacher of the same period, and his appointment as abbot at the urging of Patriarch Nikephoros placed him within the circle of churchmen who upheld the veneration of icons against the iconoclast court.
