Saint Irenaeus of Lyon
The feast of St Irenaeus of Lyon takes place on 28 June.
Irenaeus lived from about 130 to 200. His origins were in the Eastern Church but he moved to the West and became a priest in the city of Lyon, the principal city of Roman Gaul. He became its bishop in about 178.
He was a considerable figure in the church of his time and his writings were very influential. He lived at the time when there were many Christian writings in circulation, many of which claimed equivalence with the four gospels or other new testament writings. This was an issue which needed to be sorted out in order to make clear what documents were the foundation stones of the Christian faith.
The way in which Irenaeus – along with others – worked this issue out was to ask the question of the churches all over the Christian world: what writings did earlier generations of Christians – the parents and grandparents of the then current Christians hear read in the liturgy? This was the means by which Irenaeus and others sought to authenticate the original gospels over later writings. Given the relatively short period between the time of the apostles and their first successors and Irenaeus’ time this was a useful criterion. It also established two of the identifying characteristics of Christianity: apostolicity and universality. By apostolicity is meant that in Christianity, the core of the faith has been handed down from the apostles even though in varying forms and rites. And by universality it means that the one core of the faith is professed all over the Christian world even though expressed in different practices and cultural forms.
Irenaeus’ writings are still highly regarded and studied. His theology was very positive and Christ-centred.
The accompanying picture shows the crypt under the Church of St Irenaeus in Lyon. It was here that Irenaeus is said to have been buried. The whole area contains remnants of the Roman civilization of Lyon at around Irenaeus’ time. It is well worth a visit!
By Fr Frank O’Loughlin
Image: St Irenaeus’ tomb in the Church of St Irenaeus, Lyon, France
Comments
David Rush
Thanks Fr for the article. Would love some lectures perhaps on Irenaeus , Origen, Augustine and maybe Arius too????
Denise Mulcahy
Thank you Father Frank for this fascinating insight! I am still getting my head around knowing so much about Irenaus considering the thousands of years since he was made a bishop!
Kerry Bourke
Thank you Fr for this information about St. Irenaeus. He certainly had an important role to play in sorting out the doctrine of the early Church based on the earliest knowledge from Jesus' era. And making sure that it was universal.
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