Cloud of Witnesses
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Venerable (Monastic)11th century

Saint Hilarion of Tvali

died 1041

Also known as Hilarion Tulashvili

An abbot of the Khakhuli monastery in Georgia, esteemed for his virtue, learning, and preaching of the word of God.

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August 6Old Calendar
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Life

Saint Hilarion of Tvali, also recorded under the family name Tulashvili, was an eleventh-century Georgian monastic who served as abbot of Khakhuli Monastery in the historical Georgian region of Tao, in the country's southwest. He is remembered for his virtue, learning, and reputation as a preacher of the word of God.

What is known of him comes principally through the hagiographical writings of George the Minor (George the Lesser), a disciple of George the Hagiorite, who recorded the life and circle of the Khakhuli and Athonite monastic milieu of the mid-eleventh century. Hilarion is thus preserved as a figure belonging to that learned monastic community rather than through a dedicated independent vita.

His repose is dated to 1041. He is commemorated on July 24 (August 6 on the Julian calendar).

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Hilarion, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

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

Timeline3 momentsReadHide
  1. Second half of the 10th centuryFoundation of Khakhuli MonasteryKing David III Kurapalates founds Khakhuli Monastery in the Georgian Kingdom of Tao, in a gorge of the Tortum river, where it becomes a major centre of Georgian literature and culture.
  2. Early 11th centuryAbbacy of KhakhuliHilarion of Tvali (Tulashvili) serves as abbot of Khakhuli Monastery, esteemed for his virtue, learning, and preaching.
  3. 1041ReposeSaint Hilarion of Tvali reposes; he is commemorated on July 24 (August 6, Julian calendar).

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Abbacy at Khakhuli

Hilarion led Khakhuli Monastery at the beginning of the eleventh century. The monastery had been founded in the second half of the tenth century by King David III Kurapalates within the Georgian Kingdom of Tao, situated in one of the gorges of the Tortum river in what is today northeastern Turkey, near Erzurum.

Khakhuli grew into one of the most important centres of literature and Georgian culture, eventually prosperous enough to be associated with a great many villages and minor feudal holdings. Hilarion's tenure as abbot placed him at the head of this flourishing scholarly and monastic community.

The Khakhuli Monastic Circle

Khakhuli was a formative centre for several notable Georgian scholars and churchmen. George the Hagiorite (Giorgi Mtatsmindeli), who would later labour at Iviron on Mount Athos, received part of his monastic formation at Khakhuli and took monastic tonsure there before his Athonite career.

Hilarion is known precisely because he belonged to this circle: the information about him derives from George the Minor, the disciple of George the Hagiorite, who composed his biographical writings in the years following 1066. This places Hilarion firmly within the documented Khakhuli–Athonite tradition of the mid-eleventh century.

Sources and Limits of the Record

Source material on Hilarion is genuinely scarce. He has no dedicated independent biography and appears chiefly within liturgical calendar lists and the writings of George the Minor. No information survives in the available sources regarding his relics, a shrine, or a formal act of glorification.

The most secure facts that can be drawn from the record are his family name, Tulashvili; his year of repose, 1041; his role as abbot of Khakhuli Monastery in the Tao region of southwestern Georgia; and the attribution of his memory to the hagiographical writings of George the Minor.

Companions1 figureShowHide
Abbot of Khakhuli, of the same Georgian ascetic circle.
Venerable Macarius the FasterAbbot of Khakhuli
Related Saints2 saintsShowHide

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

Same monastery — George the Hagiorite received his monastic formation at Khakhuli, the community Hilarion led, before his labors at Iviron on Mount Athos.
Venerable Georgeof Mount Athos
Hagiographer — George the Minor, disciple of George the Hagiorite, whose biographical writings preserve what is known of Hilarion.
George Mtsireof Georgia

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