From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

28 June ' St Irenaeus

' Bishop, Martyr & Father of the Church '
(c130 in Smyrna, Asia Minor (modern Izmir, Turkey) ' martyred in 20=
2
in Lyons, France) His tomb and relics were destroyed by Calvinists in
1562 but his head is thought to be in Saint John's church, Lyons,
France. Patronage ' archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.

St Irenaeus was born during the first half of the 2nd century (the
exact date is disputed: between the years 115 and 125 according to
some, or 130 and 142 according to others), and he is thought to have
been a Greek from Polycarp's hometown of Smyrna in Asia Minor, now
=C4=B0zmir, Turkey.=C2 Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was brought=
up
in a Christian family rather than converting as an adult.

During the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor from
161'180, Irenaeus was a priest of the Church of Lyon. The clergy of
that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the faith,
sent him in 177 to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleuterus concerning the
heresy Montanism and that occasion bore emphatic testimony to his
merits. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a massacre took place in Lyon.
Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus and
became the second Bishop of Lyon.

The new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor
and of a missionary (as to which we have but brief data, late and not
very certain), during the religious peace which followed the
persecution of Marcus Aurelius. Almost all his writings were directed
against Gnosticism. The most famous of these writings is Adversus
haereses (Against Heresies).

St Irenaeus linked the Church at the time of the twelve apostles and
the Church of the second century. He wrote and taught the faith handed
on by the apostles and preserved it when it was attacked. His chief
concern was unity among the churches.

The date of the death of Irenaeus is usually given as about the year
202/203. According to a late tradition he suffered martyrdom under
Septimius Severus.

From Anastpaul 2017


Everyone who looks upon the Son
and believes in him shall have eternal life=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6.John 6:40

REFLECTION ' =E2=80=9CThe Father made God visible to human beings t=
hrough
numerous mysteries to prevent them from losing everything ' even th=
eir
very lives. For the glory of God is the living person and the life of
a person is the vision of God.=E2=80=9D=E2=80=A6..St Irenaeus ' Fat=
her of the Church

Thought for the Day ' 28 June
The Church is fortunate that St Irenaeus was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a student, well trained no
doubt, with great patience in investigating, tremendously protective
of apostolic teaching but prompted more by a desire to win over his
opponents than to prove them in error.
As bishop of Lyons he was especially concerned with the Gnostics, who
took their name from the Greek word for =E2=80=9Cknowledge.=E2=80=9D Claimi=
ng access
to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a few disciples, their
teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians. After
thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their =E2=80=9Csecre= t,=E2=80=9D
Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy
Scripture, giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great
importance to subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and
translated into Latin and Armenian, gradually ended the influence of
the Gnostics.
St Irenaeus' deep and genuine concern for other people will remind =
us
that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for some and a
defeat for others. Unless all can claim a share in that victory, truth
itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be
regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat. And so,
confrontation, controversy and the like might yield to a genuine
united search for God's truth and how it can best be served=E2=80= =A6=E2=80=A6=E2=80=A6.Fr Don
Miller, OFM
St Irenaeus pray for us all!

Saint Quotes:
=E2=80=9CIt is not you that shapes God.
It is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God
await the Hand of the artist who does
all things in due season.
Offer Him your heart,
soft and tractable
and keep the form in which the artist
has fashioned you.
Let the clay be moist
lest you go hard
and lose the imprint of His Fingers.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=9CThe preaching of the Church truly continues
without change and is everywhere the same.
It has the testimony of the Prophets
and Apostles and all their disciples.=E2=80=9D

=E2=80=9CBeing obedient she (Mary)
became the cause of salvation for herself
and for the whole human race.
The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied
by Mary's obedience:
what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief,
Mary loosened by her faith.=E2=80=9D
--St Irenaeus ' Father of the Church

<><><><>
O Lamb of God
by St Irenaeus

O Lamb of God,
who takes away the sin of the world,
look upon us and have mercy upon us;
You who art Yourself both victim and Priest,
Yourself both Reward and Redeemer,
keep safe from all evil
those whom You have redeemed,
O Saviour of the world.
Amen
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)