GLORIA DEI

Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
Jn 17:20-26

“Gloria Dei vivens homo” – have you already come across this expression? Literally translated in English, it is “The glory of God is man living”, but the same statement is more commonly rendered as “The glory of God is man fully alive.” These words came from a treatise against heresies, written by St. Irenaeus whose blessed memory we celebrate today. The exact excerpt from the treatise reads: “Life in man is the glory of God, the life of man is the vision of God.”

Irenaeus was born around the year 130 and was educated in Smyrna where he became a disciple of the bishop of that city, St. Polycarp. In 177, at Lyons, France, he was ordained a priest and later on became bishop of the same diocese. Vigorously, he fought Gnosticism, the heresy of his time. Around the year 200, Irenaeus was martyred.

Aside from his defense of the Faith against the Gnostics, what is unusually important about St. Irenaeus? A lot.

Before Irenaeus, Christianity was more of a fluid movement rather than the form of Catholicism we know today. Every Christian community seemed to have its own theology prior to the emergence of Christianity as a universal religion. There was no canon of sacred books. Many preachers wandered around. Irenaeus stressed on apostolic authority which means historical link with the Apostles; a creed which is a set of core beliefs; and a canon of Scripture. Apostolicity, creed, and canon of Scripture eventually became the defining marks of early Catholicism.

Irenaeus lived his life fully for God. He is indeed God’s glory.