St Irenaeus was born around the year 125 in Smyrna, Asia Minor. He is considered the first great Western ecclesiastical writer and theologian, who emphasized the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and of Christ’s simultaneous human and divine nature, and the value of tradition. Irenaeus was influenced by St Polycarp. He was martyred in the year 202 in Lyons, France and is the patron saint of mobile.