Saint of the Day: St. Irenaeus of Lyons

Bishop, Martyr, and Doctor of the Church (d. ca. 200)

His life

+ Irenaeus was born around the year 110 and was educated in Smyrna where he became a disciple of the great martyr and bishop Saint Polycarp.

+ In 177, Irenaeus was ordained a priest in Lyons, France, and was elected bishop a short time later.

+ Irenaeus was a strong defender of the Faith and his writings, especially against the Gnostics, show the evolution of the Church’s understanding of the divinity and humanity of Jesus during the second century. His best-known work is his Treatise Against Heresies.

+ According to tradition, Irenaeus was martyred around the year 200. He was the most highly honored non-Italian martyr of the early Church. His shrine and relics were destroyed by Calvinists in 1562.

+ Saint Irenaeus was declared a Doctor of the Church in 2022 and is honored as the “Doctor of Unity.”

+ Before the time of Irenaeus, there was division among Christians about which versions of the Gospel were authentic and had authority and which books/letters should be included among the Christian Scriptures. Irenaeus was among the first to propose that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provided an authentic witness to the life and ministry of Jesus. In his writings, he quoted from 21 or 27 canonical New Testaments texts.

For prayer and reflection

“In Irenaeus' teaching, the dignity of the human person, body and soul, is firmly anchored in divine creation, in the image of Christ and in the Spirit's permanent work of sanctification. This doctrine is like a "high road" in order to discern together with all people of good will the object and boundaries of the dialogue of values, and to give an ever-new impetus to the Church's missionary action, to the force of the truth which is the source of all true values in the world.”—Pope Benedict XVI

Prayer

O God, who called the Bishop Saint Irenaeus
to confirm true doctrine and the peace of the Church,
grant, we pray, through his intercession,
that, being renewed in faith and charity,
we may always be intent on fostering unity and concord.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal)
Saint profiles prepared by Fr. Silas Henderson, S.D.S.