St. Irenaeus

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Irenaeus. St. Irenaeus has helped and played an important role in all of the controversies that he was involved in during the second century. St. Irenaeus was a student, who was very well trained, and he had a huge desire to win over his opponents rather than to prove them in error which helped him be successful.

While St. Irenaeus served as the Bishop of Lyons he was very concerned with the Gnostics, who had taken their name from the Greek word which actually meant “knowledge.” They had claimed that they had access to a very secret knowledge that was imparted by Jesus to only a few of his disciples. However, their teaching was very attracting but it managed to confuse many Christians. After St. Irenaeus had thoroughly investigated the Gnostic beliefs and teaching and their “secret,” St. Irenaeus was able to show what logical conclusions their tenets led. St. Irenaeus was later able to use this in his work. His work was so impactful that it has been widely used and translated into Latin and Armenian, his work was able to gradually end the influence of the Gnostics.

Unfortunately not much is known about how he died or how he was born. St. Irenaeus’ feast day is celebrated on June 28.

Prayer to St. Irenaeus

St. Irenaeus help us to guide more people to Christ and help us teach others about Christ’s love and mercy. Help us through all of our struggles and help us to devote ourselves to Christ.

Amen

St. Irenaeus pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works cited:

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan media. “St. Irenaeus. ”Saint Irenaeus | Franciscan Media. Accessed June 28, 2021.

Images:

St. Irenaeus. June 28, 2021. St. Irenaeus - Google Search.