St. Hilary & St. Ambrose Raise the Dead.       In an earlier article we mentioned the Bishop, St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315-368). He is among the “Doctors of the Church,” and was an early and great defender of the revelation of humanity’s one God in three Persons. At one point the Emperor exiled him from Gaul (today’s France) to the East, to Phrygia (in today’s Turkey). While there raised a dead man to life and worked other miracles. When allowed to return to Poitiers, Gaul, the people welcomed him back with joy. There he brought back to life an infant who had died unbaptized. St. Hilary was the inspiration and spiritual guide for St. Martin of Tours, whose story we related here recently.       Miracles of all sorts, including raising of the dead – amazing and wonderful – had a frequent occurrence not only in Apostolic times, but even in succeeding generations of Christians. These were early great saints who fought for the truth of the Gosp...

Desert Fathers Raised the Dead.       Throughout history there have always been Christians who sought a more disciplined, ascetical way of self-denial in following Christ. They sought (and today, seek) to open themselves to the Holy Spirit while closing the door to the seductions and temptations of the world, often seeking out desert or wilderness. In the Bible, Elijah had done so; so did John the Baptist; so did St. Paul for a period of time in Arabia, the Syrian desert ( Gal 1:17 ).       By the end of the Third Century (AD 200's), many ascetics were following St. Paul of Thebes (aka Paul the First Hermit) (c. 227-c. 341) and St. Antony of the Desert (251-356) into the Egyptian Desert. They were seeking God and holiness of life through self-denial, prayer, and by battle with the demons.       St. Macarius of Egypt (aka Macarius the Great) (300-390) went into the desert about 330, becoming a disciple of St. Antony. Both m...