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The same witnesses also recommended Irenaeus, who was already at that
time a presbyter of the parish of Lyons, to the above-mentioned
bishop of Rome, saying many favorable things in regard to him, as the
following extract shows: "We pray, father Eleutherus, that you may
rejoice in God in all things and always. We have requested our
brother and comrade Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask
you to hold him in esteem, as zealous for the covenant of Christ.
For if we thought that office could confer righteousness upon any one,
we should commend him among the first as a presbyter of the church,
which is his position."
3Why should we transcribe the catalogue of the witnesses given in the
letter already mentioned, of whom some were beheaded, others cast to
the wild beasts, and others fell asleep in prison, or give the number
of confessors still surviving at that time? For whoever desires can
readily find the full account by consulting the letter itself, which,
as I have said, is recorded in our Collection of Martyrdoms. Such
were the events which happened under Antoninus.
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