Today, besides being the 3rd Sunday of Easter, is the feast of St. Leonides. Who is he, you say? Well, he is a sneaky way to honor Origen who is not and will never be sainted (because it is generally believed he castrated himself -- perhaps due to a vow of chastity -- soon after the death of his father St. Leonides; and because he is regarded as a heretic. But other than that, no problems! :) ). He is Origen's father and was martyred during the persecution of Septimus Severus in 202. Origen wanted to go to the execution but his mother prevented it by hiding all of his clothes. Neat trick!
But here's the thing. Origen wrote prodigiously, but since he fell into suspicion (after his death -- never during his life, which he gave for his faith), many of the works were destroyed, and those we have are in bad repair. "One thing we can say of him, and this will not change: that he deserves well the title of greatest scholar of Christian antiquity." - Wm. Jurgens, "Faith of the Early Fathers."
Yes, he suffered from an overly Platonic influence, especially in his work De principiis, usually translated as "The Fundamental Doctrines," and allegorical -- maybe too allegorical -- an interpretation of Scripture -- but where he put his own speculations he was careful to say that that's all they were, and would have to stand the test of time.
Ooh, I like Origen because he is clear and engaging. Too bad he mutilated himself and was a heretic. But c'mon, he knew Catholic doctrine, he presented Catholic doctrine, and we should just split the difference, I say: leave him uncanonized (and thus discourage all who would follow in his imprudent steps) but remove the label "heretic".
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