Saint Irenaeus of Lyons Resource Page

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Feast Day - August 23)

 

Verses

Irenaeus speedily flees the earth by the sword,
With eros going towards the heavens he longs for.

 

Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (+ 202)

 

Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (St. Justin Popovich)

 

The Life and Works of Saint Irenaeus of Lyon (Fr. George Florovsky) 

 

August: Day 23: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
 

Recapitulation According to Saint Irenaeus of Lyon

 

The Analogy of Eve and the Theotokos (St. Irenaeus of Lyons) 

 

St. Irenaeus of Lyons on St. Polycarp of Smyrna

 

 

The Only Case of a Stylite in the Western World

 

 

In 591 Saint Vulfilaic (also known as Wulphy, Walfroy, Wulflaicus), a monk of Lombardy, had a pillar erected for him at Treves, and stood upon it barefoot, enduring great hardship in the winter. The bishops therefore compelled him to come down and to live like other monks, telling him that the severity of the climate would not permit him to imitate the great Symeon of Antioch. He obeyed his superiors, but with tears and reluctance. He died around 600 and was buried in his hermitage, today known as Mont Saint-Walfroy. This is the only instance that we know of a stylite or pillar monk in the Western world. On July 7, 979, his relics were translated to Yvois. A broken slab is all that remains of the location of the tomb of Saint Vulfilaic at Mont Saint-Walfroy, destroyed by war and lost. He is commemorated annually on October 21st. 

 

Saint Julian, Bishop of the Cenomani in Le Mans

St. Julia of Le Mans (Feast Day - July 13)

Saint Julian was elevated to the episcopal office by the Apostle Peter. Some believe that he is the same person as Simon the Leper (Mark 14:3), receiving the name Julian in Baptism. Others believe he was a Roman nobleman, or perhaps one of the Seventy Apostles.

The Apostle Peter sent Saint Julian to preach the gospel in Gaul. He arrived among the Cenomani tribe (who were in the region of the River Po in the north of present day Italy) and settled into a small hut out beyond a city (probably Cremona), and he began to preach among the Cenomani pagans. The idol-worshippers at first listened to him with distrust, but the preaching of the Saint was accompanied by great wonders. The capital city of the Cenomani was Civitas Cenomanorum (Le Mans), which was suffering from a shortage of drinking water. Julian thrust his staff into the ground and prayed. Water began to gush out of the ground. This miracle allowed him to preach freely within Le Mans.

Saint Prosper of Aquitaine (+ 455)

Saint Prosper was born in Aquitaine around the year 390. He was a renowned lay theologian, although few details of his life are known.

We know Saint Prosper chiefly from his writings. A contemporary writer described him as "a holy and venerable man." Like Saint Augustine, Saint Prosper was also an opponent of the Pelagian heresy. This wise man seems to have spent his life embroiled in controversies with heretics. Many of Saint Prosper's writings echo the teaching of Saint Augustine (June 15) on grace and free will. Though he never met Augustine, he was an aggressive propagandist for the Augustinian doctrine of grace. After Augustine's death he wrote three series of Augustinian defenses, especially against Saint Vincent of Lerins and Saint John Cassian (it should be noted that the Orthodox position aligns more with the latter rather than Augustine). In speaking of Pelagianism in Rome, Saint Photios the Great says the following: "Not long afterwards, when the shameless heresy again sprang up from an evil root, certain persons at Rome openly expressed themselves in favor of it. But Prosper, truly a man of God, in his pamphlets against them, soon crushed them, while Leo still occupied the papal throne."

Saint Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours (+ 490)

St. Perpetuus of Tours (Feast Day - April 8)

Saint Perpetuus came from a senatorial family, and possessed very large estates in several provinces. He was made Bishop of Tours around 460, and guided the Church of Tours for thirty years. During this time his primary focus was to lead souls to virtue through prudent ordinances.

Soon after his accession he convened a synod at Tours to regulate ecclesiastical discipline and remedy abuse; four years later he summoned another at Vannes. He maintained a careful surveillance over the conduct of the clergy of his diocese, and mention is made of priests who were removed from their office because they had proved unworthy. The Saint further consecrated all the revenues from his estates to the service of the Church of Tours and the relief of those in need.

Saint Eucherius, Bishop of Orleans (+ 743)

St. Eucherius of Orleans (Feast Day - February 20)

Saint Eucherius's sanctity was formed by his parents. His mother was a lady of great virtue. While she was carrying her son, she begged God daily for divine grace and offered the unborn Eucherius to the Heavenly Father. At his birth, his parents dedicated him to God. When he was seven, his studies were planned to form both mind and soul. After being well-educated, especially in theology, Eucherius entered the Benedictine abbey of Jumièges on the Seine in the diocese of Rouen around 714.

He spent six or seven years here practicing penitential austerities and obedience, until the senate, people, and clergy of Orléans appointed persons to Charles Martel, mayor of the palace, to beg his permission to elect Eucherius to the see vacated by the death of Eucherius's uncle, Bishop Suavaric. Charles Martel agreed and sent one of his principal officers to conduct Eucherius from his monastery to Orléans. Eucherius was horrified at the notion of being consecrated bishop and sought the protection of his brother monks. But they preferred the public good to their private inclinations, and resigned him up for that important charge. Eucherius was received and consecrated at Orléans with universal applause in 721.

Saint Eleutherius, Bishop of Tournai (+ 531)

St. Eleutherius of Tournai (Feast Day - February 20)

Saint Eleutherius was born in Tournai to Christian parents, whose family had been converted to the Christian faith by Saint Piatus a few centuries prior. Most Christian families after the martyrdom of Saint Piatus reverted to paganism. He grew up with Saint Medardus (June 8), who prophesied to him that he would one day become Bishop of Tournai, where the Kings of the Franks resided. Eleutherius was consecrated Bishop of Tournai by Saint Remigius in 486.

The first years of his episcopate were particularly difficult. In 476 Rome had fallen and the barbarian invasions of the Visigoths, Alemanni and Franks had already begun. The latter still pagans, they had established their own capital in Tournai, so Eleutherius was forced to take refuge, moving the episcopal see to the nearby and safer village of Blandain.

Saint Avitus, Bishop of Vienne (+ 525)

St. Avitus of Vienne (Feast Day - February 5)

Saint Avitus was a Gallo-Roman born at Vienne in Dauphine in the middle of the fifth century. His father was Hesychius, Bishop of Vienne, where episcopal honors were informally hereditary. Saint Apollinaris, Bishop of Valence, was his brother, and his sister Fuscina became a nun. Saint Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, baptized him.

He entered a monastery near the city in order to devote himself to God alone, but in 490 he was called to succeed his father as Bishop of Vienne. Devout, humble and peace-loving, Avitus constantly sought the triumph of charity and unity in the Church during his episcopate, by reconciling sinners and heretics to God, by restoring amity between feuding brethren, and by gentle correction of those who neglected their duties.

Saint John of Réome in Gaul (+ 544)

St. John of Reome (Feast Day - January 28)

Saint John was one of the main institutors of monastic life in the West. He was born in Gaul in the diocese of Langres about the year 424, and brought up as a pious Christian by his parents, who were exemplary for holy living. At the age of twenty, he built himself a cell with a little oratory where he could devote himself to contemplation without distraction. Meditating on Scriptural examples of renunciation of the world, especially on the life of Saint John the Baptist in the desert, and on the Apostle's eagerness to follow the Lord, he left his native district and his parents without looking back and settled in a wild, forbidding spot called Réome (Reomay) in the region of Auxois. There he began to live the hesychast life like the monks in the desert of the East.

Saint Marius of Bodon (+ 555)

St. Marius of Bodon (Feast Day - January 27;
(photo) Abbey Bodon in Saint-May

Saint Marius (also known as May or Mari) was born at Orleans, became a monk, and after some time founded Abbey Bodon at La-Val-Benois, in the village of present-day Saint-May named in his honor.

Saint Marius made a pilgrimage to Saint Martin’s, at Tours, and another to the tomb of Saint Denis, near Paris, where, falling sick, he dreamed that he was restored to health by an apparition of Saint Denis, and awaking, found himself perfectly recovered.

Saint Paulinus of Nola Resource Page

St. Paulinus of Nola (Feast Day - January 23)

Saint Paulinus the Merciful, Bishop of Nola (+ 431)

On Saint Paulinus of Nola (Sulpicius Severus)

On Saint Paulinus of Nola (St. Eucherius of Lyon)

The Correspondence Between St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Paulinus of Nola

Life of Saint Maurilius, Bishop of Angers

St. Maurilius of Angers (Feast Day - September 13)

Saint Maurilius (French: Maurille) was a follower of Saint Martin of Tours and a priest originally from Milan, who served as the Bishop of Angers in 423 till his death in either 426 or 453. He played an early role in the Christianization of Gaul. In the seventh century, a devotion to Saint Maurilius began. A biography of him was written by Bishop Magnobodus of Angers around 620 (which can be read below), and, in 873, his body was transferred to the Cathedral of Angers, which had already been dedicated to Saint Maurice. Two hundred years later, Saint Maurilius was frequently mentioned together with Saint Maurice as the patron saints of the Cathedral but eventually Saint Maurice became the primary patron of the Cathedral. Nevertheless, on 16 August 1239, the remains of Saint Maurilius were placed in a new urn but they were scattered in 1791, when the Cathedral was vandalized during the French Revolution. Only a few small parts were recovered and they are now kept at the Cathedral.

Saint Autbert, Bishop of Avranches, Founder of the Monastery of Mont-St-Michel on the Normandy Coast (+ 720)

St. Aubert of Avranches (Feast Day - September 10)

Saint Aubert lived in Gaul during the reign of Childebert III (695-711) and died about 720. He was born of a noble family from Genetas, and received an extensive education. When the See of Avranches became vacant, Aubert, known for his wisdom and piety, was chosen bishop.

According to the accounts of the foundation of Mont-Saint-Michel, in 708 Aubert had retreated to Mont Tombe to pray. There he had a vision in which the Archangel Michael instructed him to build an oratory on the rocky tidal island at the mouth of the Couesnon. Aubert did not pay attention to this vision at first, doubting it was a true vision. The archangel appeared a second time, but still Aubert hesitated. In view of the condition of this rocky point, scarcely attached to the continent, covered with bushes and brambles, and only inhabited, besides the wild beasts, by some hermits, he judged it impossible, and at first thought of it as a trick of the devil. At last in exasperation Michael appeared to him again, this time poking him in his head and ordered him to complete the task. Upon awaking and feeling the hole in his head, it was confirmed for him that the vision was truly from God. After this the oratory was built, many miracles taking place in the process, and henceforth Mont Tombe came to be called Mont-Saint-Michel. It was dedicated on 16 October 709. Here Bishop Aubert at first established a chapter of twelve canons; then the Benedictines. Aubert's body was first buried in the oratory, then translated to the abbey on June 18, c. 1009.

Saint Salvius, Bishop of Albi in Gaul (+ 584)

St. Salvius of Albi (Feast Day - September 10);
St. Gregory and Salvius in front of King Chilperic I,
from the Grandes Chroniques de France de Charles V
(14th-century illumination)

Saint Salvius came from a powerful family within the Church, which contributed many bishops in the south of France. He was a distant relation of Gregory of Tours who wrote his life, and was also a relative of Saint Didier of Cahors. He was educated in law and humanities, before becoming a lawyer in Albi. Later he became a monk and a hermit and was made bishop in 574.

As bishop he intervened with the powerful Chilperic I and stayed in Albi to take care of his flock during a famine and a plague epidemic to which he succumbed in 584.

Saint Omer, Bishop of Therouanne († 670)

St. Omer of Therouanne (Feast Day - September 9)

Saint Omer (Audomar) was born toward the close of the sixth century in the territory of Constance. His parents, who were noble and wealthy, paid great attention to his education, but, above all, strove to inspire him with a love for virtue. Upon the death of his mother he entered the Monastery of Luxeuil and persuaded his father to accompany him, which he did after they sold their worldly goods and distributed the proceeds among the poor. The father and son made their monastic profession together, being tonsured by Saint Eustasius (Mar. 29). The humility, obedience, mildness and devotion, together with the admirable purity of intention which shone forth in every action of Saint Omer, distinguished him even among his holy brethren.

Saint Justus, Bishop of Lyon (+ 389)

St. Justus of Lyon (Feast Day - September 2)

Justus was born in Vivarais in the south-east of France and came from an aristocratic family. A contemporary biographer describes him as being a meek and merciful man. He became a deacon of the Church of Vienne. Sometime after 343, he was chosen to succeed Bishop Verissimus, as Bishop of Lyons. In 374, Bishop Justus assisted at regional Synod at Valencia. In 382, he attended the Synod of Aquileia, as one of the two representatives of the Bishops of Gaul, which rejected Arianism and condemned Palladius and Sécondien. At that time, he maintained a correspondence with Ambrose of Milan of which there remain only two letters from Ambrose discussing sections of Scripture. The two letters suggest that Justus was a man respected for his learning.

Saint Cassian, Bishop of Autun (+ 350)

St. Cassian of Autun (Feast Day - August 5)

Saint Cassian was perhaps born in Egypt. After the peace bought by Constantine he had a vision and decided to embark with some companions to evangelize the Britons. Getting as far as Autun, he became the assistant of Saint Reticius, Bishop of Autun. Cassian succeeded Reticius as bishop, serving for about twenty years, and was well liked by the people of his see.

Saint Lupus the Confessor, Bishop of Troyes (+ 479)

St. Lupus of Troyes (Feast Day - July 29)

Saint Lupus (in French known as Loup or Leu) was born around 383 at Toul, and he was the son of a wealthy nobleman, Epirocus of Toul. Having lost his parents when he was an infant, Lupus was brought up by his uncle Alistocus. Being learned and eloquent, Lupus was a lawyer for some years with great reputation, and held a number of estates in Maxima Sequanorum. Lupus was brother-in-law to Saint Hilary of Arles, as he had married one of Hilary's sisters, Pimeniola. After six years of marriage, he and his wife parted by mutual agreement, and made a mutual vow of perpetual continency.