Feast day: June 28, died ca. 202 When I think of the early church era, I tend to think of Palestine and the surrounding area. I forget that after the resurrection, the followers of Christ spread all over the Roman Empire. They went to Africa and to Europe; they went into modern Turkey. I should not be surprised that today’s saint, Irenaeus, was the bishop of what is now Lyons, in southern France. Born in Asia Minor, he was a student of Polycarp, who was martyred during one of the Roman persecutions of Christians. (This all takes place before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire.) By tradition, John the Apostle had lived in Ephesus in Asia Minor as an old man, and Polycarp knew him. “I sat at the feet of Polycarp, who sat at the feet of John, who sat at the feet of Jesus,” Irenaeus reportedly said. From Asia Minor he went to Lyons; he became bishop after the death of the previous bishop at the hands of the Romans. He was involved in the controversy with the Gnostics, who believed in “secret knowledge”—which they of course possessed. One of his two works that survived, Against Heresies, counters the false claims of that idea. He and Clement of Alexandria managed to wipe out most of the Gnostic writings. In the 1940s, when the Nag Hammadi library was found, scholars could see how carefully Irenaeus had debated each point. Irenaeus uses the imagery of a shepherd—which is how he viewed his work as a bishop, as well as that of God, who loves and leads humanity. He saw creation as good, not an error, as the Gnostics believed. Humans in Eden were as little children, not rebellious or sinful. [The church managed for centuries without Augustine's idea of original sin, which developed from a misreading of Romans.] God uses the Word and the Holy Spirit to instruct humanity, to help the little children grow up. The union of God and humankind was always God’s purpose. Irenaeus also aided the development of the canon of the Bible as we know it today and the validity of apostolic succession of bishops. Pope Francis named Irenaeus a Doctor of the Church in 2022.
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If you live in Ohio, you may know of St. Alban’s in Bexley. It’s named for a saint honored on June 22. He has the sad distinction of being Britain’s first Christian martyr, during the Roman occupation. Alban was not a believer when he sheltered a priest from the Romans, but that man’s witness converted him. It was Alban who came up with the idea to switch cloaks, so that when the Romans came for the priest, they would take Alban instead. (If this sounds familiar, you may have been listening a few weeks ago to the passage from Paul's letter to the Romans, stating that perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die.) And so it happened as planned, and Alban was subsequently beheaded. “I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things,” he said, refusing the opportunity to recant. Unfortunately, the Romans came for the priest shortly after that, and he, too, was martyred. Scholars aren’t sure of the exact date of his martyrdom; possibly it was in 209 or 304. Some doubt he even existed, but was merely a legend, like King Arthur, although he is called a Roman soldier in in the Venerable Bede’s Ecclesiastical History. And the church has given us a prayer in honor of Saint Alban. Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Alban triumphed over suffering and was faithful even unto death: Grant to us, who now remember him with thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. [This 11th century fresco showing Basil is in a cathedral in Macedonia.] Sometimes known as Basil the Great, this saint was one of the Cappadocians, brother to the mystic Gregory of Nyssa and Macrina the Elder. [Cappadocia is in southern Asia Minor, now part of Turkey.] Born in 329, he intended to become a lawyer, as his father was. He studied in Athens; when he returned home, his sister’s influence changed his direction. He went to Egypt in 357 to learn of monastic life in the desert. He founded a monastic settlement that became the pattern for monasticism in the East. Unlike Western monasticism, which offers many kinds of orders, such as Benedictine or Franciscan, all Eastern monastics are Basilian. The Longer Rules and Shorter Rules (a rule being a way of life) he wrote remain the standard. In 362 he was ordained a priest; he became bishop in 370. I think we’d like him. When a famine came to Cappadocia in 367-8, he sold the family’s land to purchase food for those who were starving. He went to work in a soup kitchen. He didn’t separate Jew and Christians in providing food, saying that the digestive systems of both are alike. His building projects included housing for the poor, a hospital, and a travelers’ hospice, or rest area. He also denounced and excommunicated owners of houses of prostitution, worked for justice for the poor, and disciplined clergy who used their office to accumulate money or to live too well at the expense of the faithful. Like most people of that time, he was caught up in the Arian controversy, remaining faithful to the Nicene Creed. When he died on June 14, 379, Christians, Jews, and pagans attended his funeral. The Church has given us a prayer in his honor: Almighty God, who has revealed to your Church your eternal Being of glorious majesty and perfect love as one God in Trinity of Persons: Give us grace that, like your bishop Basil of Caesarea, we may continue steadfastly in the confession of this faith, and remain constant in our worship of you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; ever one God, for ever and ever. Amen. . [The image is an 11th century mosaic.] Ephrem is believed to have been born in 306 and been present at the Council of Nicea as a deacon serving Bishop James of Nisibis (a city in Turkey). Ephrem wrote commentaries on Genesis and Exodus. Much of his writing was in verse form. He annotated a second-century Syriac-Greek version of the New Testament. He also disputed with the Arians, was a tutor and a teacher. When others wanted him to be ordained a bishop, he pretended to be insane. He lived in a cave for part of his life, following ascetic practices. During a famine in 372-3, he worked to develop a kind of ambulance service for the sick and to distribute food. Working long and hard hours, he grew ill and died. His influence lives on in both the Orthodox church and in his influence on Dante’s Divine Comedy. My excuse for not having heard of this man is that he’s not in The Story of Christianity, v. 1, my Early Church History text. He’s more well-known in the Greek Orthodox Church, but we also have a hymn (#443) for which he wrote the text, in our 1982 Hymnal. For his songs and his other writings, he’s sometimes known as the Harp of the Holy Spirit. The church has given us a prayer in his honor: Pour out upon us, O Lord, that same Spirit by which your deacon Ephrem declared the mysteries of faith in sacred song; that, with gladden hearts we too might proclaim the riches of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. |
Saints Alive!
I have been privileged to offer Noonday Prayer at my church, usually on Thursdays, which doesn’t matter because it’s on Youtube forever. [It’s amazing what can be done with a smartphone and a smart, helpful parish administrator!] The service is brief, with a place for a meditation. We usually look at the Episcopal calendar of saints, who are nearly always honored on their death dates, not their birth dates. Here is a hymn by medieval saint Hildegard of Bingen to set the mood.
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