St. Irenaeus of Lyons

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia,

St. Irenaeus (ear-en-A-us) was the Bishop of Lyons, and Father of the Church. He was born in Proconsular Asia in the first half of the second century. While still very young, Irenaeus had seen and heard the holy Bishop Polycarp (d. 155) at Smyrna. During the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, Irenaeus was a priest of the Church of Lyons. The clergy of that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the Faith, sent him (177 or 178) to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleutherius concerning Montanism, and on that occasion bore emphatic testimony to his merits. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons. During the religious peace which followed the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor and of a missionary, and his writings, almost all of which were directed against Gnosticism, the heresy then spreading in Gaul and elsewhere. In 190 or 191 he interceded with Pope Victor to lift the sentence of excommunication laid by that pontiff upon the Christian communities of Asia Minor which persevered in the practice of the Quartodecimans in regard to the celebration of Easter. Nothing is known of the date of his death, which must have occurred at the end of the second or the beginning of the third century. In spite of some isolated and later testimony to that effect, it is not very probable that he ended his career with martyrdom. His feast is celebrated on 28 June in the Latin Church, and on 23 August in the Greek.

Readings:

• Pope Benedict XVI's reflection on St. Irenaeus
• Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses) - optional
• Book 1, Chapter 1 - description of a gnostic system: beware! painful, but instructive!
• Book 1, Chapter 6 - in gnosticism, good works were for the little people
• Book 1, Chapter 11 - anyone can create their own gnostic system
• Book 1, Chapter 13 - gnostics exploited women
• Pope Benedict's address directs us to three points Irenaeus makes regarding the Apostolic Tradition:
• Book 1, Chapter 10 - it creates UNITY in the world
• Book 3, Chapter 3 - it is PUBLIC, not private or secrete
• Book 3, Chapter 24 - it is guided by the HOLY SPIRIT present in the Church
• Catholic Encyclopedia on Gnosticism as a system of salvation by (special) knowledge
• Catholic Encyclopedia on Heresy with a definition by St. Thomas Aquinas

Some questions to think about over the coming week:

• Do you find anything like Gnosticism in the world around you today? In a small way, or on a large scale? At home, school, work, church?
• Why do we desire any special knowledge? How can we know when we have gone too far?
• How does the Church authenticate 'private revelation'?
• What is the apparent advantage to being saved by super-secret-special knowledge, rather than by the grace of God along with everyone else who cooperates?
• Can you put in your own words each of the three principles of the Apostolic Tradition? What would life be like if one principle was missing?
• Do you have a favorite quote from Irenaeus?

Irenaeus says:

"...the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.  She also belives these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth."