St. Irenaeus of Lyon

Irenaeus grew up in Smyrna and as a boy heard St. Polycarp tell what he remembered of the Apostle John. He went west as a priest to Lyon in Gaul and became its bishop after the terrible persecution of 177. His great work Against Heresies answered the Gnostics by pointing to the faith handed down openly from the Apostles through the bishops. He wrote, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” By tradition he died a martyr around 202.

• Feast: August 23 (New Calendar)
• Lived: died c. 202
• Place: Lyon