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Venerable (Monastic)9th century

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.

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Commemorated as

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.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide
KontakionTone 2

You imitated the powers on high, venerable Hilarion,
living by example the life of those who take flight.
Led by steadfast desire to the heavenly good things of Christ the King,
you put passing things from your mind and attained to Him.
Entreat Him without ceasing for the sake of us all!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

O God of our Fathers,
always act with kindness towards us;
take not Your mercy from us,
but guide our lives in peace
through the prayers of the venerable Bessarion and Hilarion the New.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline7 momentsReadHide
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 820-829Release under Michael IIThe emperor Michael II freed Hilarion from imprisonment, and the saint withdrew to a monastic cell.
  6. 829-842Exile under TheophilusUnder the iconoclast emperor Theophilus he was again placed under guard, beaten severely, and confined on the island of Aphousia.
  7. 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 contributionsReadHide

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.

Companions2 figuresShowHide
Teacher: the noted monastic father under whom Hilarion was formed at the Dalmatus monastery.
Venerable Gregorythe Decapolite
Consecrated by: persuaded the reluctant Hilarion to accept the abbacy, and a fellow confessor for the holy icons under the iconoclast emperors.
Saint Nikephoros the ConfessorPatriarch of Constantinople
Related Saints3 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Same monastery: the Dalmatus (Dalmaton) monastery of Constantinople, of which Isaac was the founding father and Hilarion a later abbot.
Isaacthe Confessor of Dalmatos
Fellow confessor: a leading Constantinopolitan abbot who likewise resisted the Second Iconoclasm in the same generation.
Venerable Theodorethe Studite
Fellow disciple: also formed under Saint Gregory the Decapolite.
Venerable Johnthe Disciple of Gregory of Decapolis

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints