Saint of the Day: St. Irene

Virgin and Martyr (d. 303)

Her life

+ The young martyr Irene is honored along with her older sisters Agape and Chionia; the three martyrs are honored in a common feast by the Eastern Church on April 3.

+ The sisters were born in Aquileia (in modern-day Turkey). After their parents died, they were raised by a priest named Xeno.

+ In 303, when the Emperor Diocletian declared that it was a capital crime to possess a copy of the Christian scriptures, the sisters hid the copies of the sacred texts they had in their home.

+ Agape and Chionia were eventually arrested for refusing to take part in the officially sanctioned cult of the emperor. They could not be convinced to deny their Christian faith and Agape and Chionia were condemned to burned to death.

+ After the two women were executed, soldiers searched the sisters’ home and found the copies of the scriptures that had been hidden there. Irene was arrested.

+ According to the legends associated with these saints, Irene was handed over to a local official named Sisinus, who wanted to break the girl’s spirit by sending her to a brothel. The legend goes on to say that as she was being escorted to the house, two soldiers intercepted the group and said that Irene was to be abandoned in the wilderness.

+ After the girl was left, the escorts returned to Sisinus, who declared that he never gave such an order. He hunted Irene died and she was ultimately killed by being shot in the neck with an arrow.

For prayer and reflection

“Hail to you, our King;

you alone are compassionate with our errors.”—Verse before the Gospel for Wednesday of Holy Week

Prayer

O God, who willed your Son to submit for our sake
to the yoke of the Cross,
so that you might drive from us the power of the enemy,
grant us, your servants, to attain the grace of the resurrection.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Collect for Wednesday of Holy Week)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.