[annalex]

Legend of St Francis: 11. St Francis before the Sultan (Trial by Fire)

Giotto di Bondone

1297-1300
Fresco, 270 x 230 cm
Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi

This is the eleventh of the twenty-eight scenes (twenty-five of which were painted by Giotto) of Legend of Saint Francis.

In order to convert the sultan to the Christian faith, Francis is prepared to undergo a trial by fire. The saint stands in the centre of the picture, points to the fire and turns towards the sultan. The latter appears surprised and annoyed that his own priests are running away. Giotto pictures the anxious priests and the suddenly powerless sultan most vividly.

This scene was executed partly by assistants.

(Source)

[Salvation]

Saint Irenaeus

Fr. Don Miller, OFM

Image: Stained glass window of Saint Irenaeus | Église Saint-Irénée, France | photo by Gérald Gambier

Saint Irenaeus

Saint of the Day for June 28

(c. 130 – c. 202)

 

Saint Irenaeus’ Story

The Church is fortunate that Irenaeus was involved in many of its controversies in the second century. He was a student, well trained no doubt, with great patience in investigating, tremendously protective of apostolic teaching, but prompted more by a desire to win over his opponents than to prove them in error.

As bishop of Lyons he was especially concerned with the Gnostics, who took their name from the Greek word for “knowledge.” Claiming access to secret knowledge imparted by Jesus to only a few disciples, their teaching was attracting and confusing many Christians. After thoroughly investigating the various Gnostic sects and their “secret,” Irenaeus showed to what logical conclusions their tenets led. These he contrasted with the teaching of the apostles and the text of Holy Scripture, giving us, in five books, a system of theology of great importance to subsequent times. Moreover, his work, widely used and translated into Latin and Armenian, gradually ended the influence of the Gnostics.

The circumstances and details about his death, like those of his birth and early life in Asia Minor, are not at all clear.

---

Reflection

A deep and genuine concern for other people will remind us that the discovery of truth is not to be a victory for some and a defeat for others. Unless all can claim a share in that victory, truth itself will continue to be rejected by the losers, because it will be regarded as inseparable from the yoke of defeat. And so, confrontation, controversy and the like might yield to a genuine united search for God’s truth and how it can best be served.