Irenaeus

Who they were

Irenaeus came from Asia Minor, most probably Smyrna, where as a young man he was taught by the bishop Polycarp, the disciple of St John. He came to Gaul around 177 and became bishop of Lyon, learning the languages of the Celtic and Germanic peoples to preach to them.

He fought Gnosticism, which treated the Church's faith as mere symbolism, in his five books Against Heresies and the Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. He taught that the faith of the apostles is kept by the whole Church, spread through the world, 'as if living in one house, with one soul and one heart'.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Irenaeus has been honoured as a saint since the early Church.

Why that counted as sanctity

Irenaeus handed on, whole and clear, the faith he had received from Polycarp and through him from John. He taught that God makes Himself visible to give us life: people will see God in order to live, and by seeing Him they are made immortal.

Connected on this site

• Hippolytus Saint Pupil
• Polycarp Saint Teacher