Abstract
The paper presents the doctrine of St Irenaeus of Lyon on the Holy Spirit, focusing on the anthropological aspect of his wide-ranging presence in the history of salvation. The Holy Spirit enables man to participate in his body on the life of God, grants him the salvation, unites him with God and makes him fully human.
There cannot be therefore any hiatus between the theology and the Christian life: without being well rooted in theology, the authentic Christian life is mutilated to a mere spiritless game on being spiritual. For Irenaeus, as well as for the catechesis of today, it is the Holy Spirit who guarantees the essential unity of Christian dogma and practice.