On 28 June, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Irenaeus, a disciple of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, a near contemporary of the Apostles. St Irenaeus composed, in five books, a complete refutation of the main heresies of his time.
Newsdesk (29/06/2021 11:58, Gaudium Press) Holy Church, from its very beginnings, has undergone numerous trials. Among them we can include the persecutions of the Roman Empire, which caused an enormous amount of innocent blood to be shed, leading to many Christians paying with their lives for embracing the Catholic Faith.
But there was another enemy much more subtle and cunning, whose aim was no longer to take the life of the body, as the wicked Roman emperors had done, but to tear out and destroy the Faith in souls. In this regard, the Divine Saviour well said:” Fear not those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to cast both soul and body into Gehenna” (Mt 10:18).
This perfidious enemy is called heresy, and it has dressed itself in various guises over the centuries: at times directly denying the truths of the Faith, at other times seeking to reinterpret them according to false criteria.
But in spite of this, we can affirm with St. Paul’s words: “There must be parties among you, that those who are truly virtuous may be seen (cf. Jn 11:19); for just as a muscle which spends too long in idleness risks atrophy, something similar would happen if Holy Church did not have heresies and enemies to fight.”
Heresies contribute in great measure to the development of Catholic Doctrine, for once it becomes necessary to refute false teachings, She comes to develop doctrine and to strengthen her sacred ‘walls’ against the attacks of her internal and external adversaries.
One of the great bastions of this ‘rampart was, and still is, St. Irenaeus of Lyons. This paper aims to give a brief overview of his life, and of his masterpiece the Adversus Haereses.
Life of St. Irenaeus
From the sub-apostolic period (from the end of the first century to the middle of the second) until the sixth century, Holy Church has had at its service a plethora of men of outstanding sanctity, wisdom, and apostolic zeal; among them is Irenaeus.
Mystery hangs over his life; the little that is known about him is that he was born around the year 150, that his birthplace is probably Smyrna, situated in Asia Minor. Everything indicates that his family was Christian, because as he himself describes in one of his letters, while still a child he attended the preaching of the bishop St. Polycarp of Smyrna, who in turn was a disciple of the Apostle St. John the Evangelist; thus he was given the title Devir Apostolicus.
Following is an excerpt from the letter that St. Irenaeus (1995, p.15) wrote to Florinus, a former fellow disciple of St. Polycarp, who had apostatized and become a Valentinian, recalling the occasion when they both met in the house of this Saint:
“Indeed, I met you (Florinus), when I was still a child, in Asia Minor, in the house of Polycarp. You were then a person of rank at the imperial court, and you endeavored to be on good terms with him. I remember the events of those days more clearly than the recent ones, because what we learn as children grows with the soul and becomes one with it, so that I can even recall the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit; how he entered and how he left; the character of his life; the appearance of his body; the speeches he made to the people; and how he told of his relations with John and with the others who had seen the Lord…”
Historians, based on this text, assert that St. Irenaeus was one of the last apostolic men of his age. Irenaeus, when commenting on the Apostolic Fathers, said that they still had the voice of the Apostles in their ears and their examples before their eyes (apud GLAVAM, 2002).
For unknown reasons, he left Asia Minor and went to Galia, around the year 177. He settled in the city of Lyon, where he was ordained a priest.
At that time Christianity was facing a great enemy: the heresy of Montanism. The city of Lyon, situated in ancient Gaul, ( present-day France) was experiencing numerous difficulties and persecutions on the part of these heretics. Saint Irenaeus was sent to Rome to meet Pope Saint Eleutherius, that he might mediate in the matter of heresy and to ask the Holy Father for a categorical condemnation of Montanism.
A letter which he delivered to the Pope on that occasion contained many praises of his person and gave him an excellent recommendation. Eusebius of Caesarea (apud QUASTEN, 2008) quotes this passage in his Ecclesiastical History: “We hope that by asking our brother and companion to bring you this letter, you will have towards him the appreciation due to his zeal for the testament of Christ”.
Upon his return from Rome, Irenaeus was elected, by popular acclamation, Bishop of Lyon, succeeding St. Potino in the episcopal chair.
The Easter quarrel
From the few biographical traces relegated to posterity and based on his works, we perceive the combative character of St. Irenaeus and his taste for polemics. A palpable example was the controversy regarding the date of Easter, which the Saint entered into and thus settled the issue. Helcion Ribeiro, (1995, p.15) in the introduction of one of the works of St. Irenaeus, relates the historical data of this controversy:
“The bishops of Asia – under the leadership of Polycrates of Ephesus – were said to preserve the Hebrew date of the feast of Easter, adopted by John; for the Western Churches and some of the East the celebrated date was different. At a certain moment, the Pope took it upon himself to decide, threatening with excommunication those who did not follow him. Irenaeus urged him not to break Christian unity by this disciplinary and secondary question, since both traditions came from the Apostles in different contexts”.
Once spirits had been calmed, St. Irenaeus – according to Eusebius of Caesarea – did justice to the etymological meaning of his name, whose root word ‘Irene’ means peace.
Wisdom and science united to holiness
The great learning and knowledge of St. Irenaeus is an undeniable fact. Throughout his works, he denotes a profound biblical knowledge; in them we find the citation of almost all the biblical books. He also had contacts with great sages and saints of his time, including St. Roman Clement, Theophilus of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria, and the above-mentioned St. Polycarp of Smyrna.
His knowledge of the classical authors shows a rich culture and an art of ‘filtering’ the necessary data for the literary enrichment of his writings. In them we find quotes from Homer, Hesiod, the doctrines of Plato and Aristotle, among others.
One of the predominant traits of his life was the fact that he united this erudition and wisdom to a deep love for God, for his works, besides having a deep cultural and philosophical foundation, breathe forth the sweet perfume of holiness and lead those who read them to grow in their love for God.
Very little is known about his death. An ancient tradition, which goes back to St. Jerome and Pseudo-Justinus, says that he was martyred by heretics around the year 202, together with other Christians, in a massacre that took place in the city of Lyon, under the reign of the Emperor Severus (IRENEUS OF LYON, 1995).
The Holy Church venerates him as a martyr, celebrating him on 28 June
Based simply on the information provided here, we would conclude that all the work done by Saint Irenaeus was magnificent; however, his greatest merit was to have identified, recognized, and radically refuted Gnosticism. From his work were established bases and general principles to combat all the heresies that threatened the Mystical Spouse of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Fr. Lucas Antonio Pinatti, EP.
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Compiled by Sandra Chisholm
