Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?28_June_'_St_Irenaeus?= To : All From : rich Date : Sat Jun 27 2020 09:33:27 From: rich 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) .