Thursday, June 28, 2012

St. Irenaeus: his feast day


According to the liturgical calendars of most Anglican, Lutheran and Catholic churches, June 28th is the feast day for St. Irenaeus, martyr and bishop of Lyons (died c. 200 AD). For those unfamiliar with feast days, they are liturgical memorial days for a number of historical Christians who have been designated as "saints" (see THIS WIKIPEDIA LINK for more information).

I have chosen to mention this particular feast day as an introduction of sorts to a series on St.Irenaeus that I would like to publish here at AF, leading off with a comprehensive listing of offline and online resources dedicated to him.

Beginning with my purchase of the American edition of the famous Edinburgh 38 volume "Early Church Fathers" series edited by Roberts and Donaldson (circa 1981/82 - link to info on this series), I have been keen student of Irenaeus, and have since added dozens of articles, books, and essays to my personal library and hard-drive.

So, if you have some interest in Irenaeus, stay tuned, I should have my next post on this extraordinary Christian man up within the next few days (the Lord willing).


Grace and peace,

David
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5 comments:

  1. IohannesJune 30, 2012 at 12:56 PM

    Hi David,

    Do you have Fr. Behr's The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death? Much of it is inspired by St. Irenaeus, chapter 2 most immediately.

    In Christ,
    John

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  2. David WaltzJuly 1, 2012 at 9:34 AM

    Hi John,

    So good to see you back!

    I do not own, nor have I read, Behr's, The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death?. I have already spent this month's book allowance (I know, I'm bad, it is only the first day [grin]), but will keep it in mind for next month.

    While engaged in a bit of online research for an upcoming post, I came across another book I do not own, but am thinking of purchasing: The Systematic Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar: an Irenaean Retrieval, by Kevin Mongrain—have you read this book?


    Grace and peace,

    David

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  3. IohannesJuly 1, 2012 at 12:32 PM

    Hi David,

    I've heard of von Balthasar's Scandal of the Incarnation, but am unacquainted with Mongrain's work. On Thursday I'm seeing a friend at Notre Dame who may have read it. I will let you know if she has any thoughts on the book.

    In Christ,
    John

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  4. David WaltzJuly 1, 2012 at 2:47 PM

    Hello again John,

    Thanks much for responding to my last comment; you wrote:

    ==I've heard of von Balthasar's Scandal of the Incarnation, but am unacquainted with Mongrain's work.==

    I own the above work; it is a fairly small compilation of quotations by category from Irenaeus' AH, with a decent, but not comprehensive, introduction.

    ==On Thursday I'm seeing a friend at Notre Dame who may have read it. I will let you know if she has any thoughts on the book.==

    Excellent!!! Looking forward to what your friend has to say...


    Grace and peace,

    David

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  5. The Blogger Formerly Known As LvkaJuly 1, 2012 at 6:14 PM

    The Holy Archangel Rapahel: NOT his Feast-Day, but since my young cousin is suffering from Multiple Sclerosis and just had a severe bout of the illness that left both her legs (hopefully temporarily) paralized, I thought that maybe asking for his intercessions in this time of need would probably be a good idea, since he's known to be a healer of the sick and an aid of the afflicted. +

    ReplyDelete