Saint Irene, or Irene of Thessalonica, was a martyr born in Macedonia. She is part of the Roman Martyrology, which includes other Christian martyrs such as St Valeria. Find out more about this saint who did not deny her faith.

Biography and history of Saint Irene

Saint Irene was born in Aquileia, Italy in the 3rd century. She was the sister of St Agape and St Quionia. Both sisters were also martyred in the name of the Emperor Diocesanus.

Irene was described as a very beautiful and charismatic woman. For this reason, her father kept her hidden from the eyes of the world; he wanted his daughter to be a Christian, despite the prohibitions and stigmata of the time. St Irene was discovered with a Bible hidden in her room, a fact that made her sympathise with the diocesan to give him an explanation of such an unpleasant fact in front of his eyes.

At first St Irene denied that the Bible was hers, but the pressure of the diocesan’s interrogation made her confess. The Emperor was prepared to forgive Irene her offence in flattering the Christian faith, on condition that she worship him forever. St Irene immediately refused because for her there was only one God. She replied that by worshipping a god other than the Most High she risked going to hell.

When the diocesan asked the saint who had advised her to hide the Bible, she replied that no one, only the Christian life was her way of life. The Emperor repeatedly reminded her that the Holy Scriptures were forbidden.

The emperor raged against St Irene. The martyrdom he planned for her was far worse than that imposed on her sisters. She was sentenced to death for hiding the Bible in her room.

The life of Saint Irene

Despite her martyrdom, St Irene never lost her courage or her Christian faith. Her greatest punishment was to hide the Holy Book in her room. The statutes of the diocese were very clear: no distribution of the Bible in the province and no profession of the divine faith. Her sisters also suffered before the Emperor, although their punishments were less severe.

Saint Irene was forcibly taken to a brothel to be the centre of attention for men. Despite her beauty, the saint remained a virgin and had no suitors. She was guarded day and night by guards. Because God always protected Saint Irene from men who tried to take advantage of her, Diocesan ordered her death.

The epistles say that St Irene was burnt alive at the stake. She threw herself into the flames because she wanted to reach heaven. Her first thought was to gain the eternal life she longed for. Other accounts say that Irene died when an arrow pierced her throat.

St Irene, like St Barbara, were women who preferred to die rather than renounce their Christianity. Irene also loved to read from the Holy Gospels. Her life makes us reflect on the value of the Bible in the Christian world, which many do not see.

Date of Saint Irene

The first celebration in honour of Saint Irene seems to have taken place in Constantinople in the 5th century. Constantine, the son of St Helen of Constantinople, once ruled there. Emperor Marcian was the patron of her first feast.

The emperor ordered a chapel to be built in honour of the saint. All the parishioners gather here on 5 April, her feast day, to pay homage to the virginal saint who never denied God at any moment of her life. The Byzantine Synaxarion correctly states that the feast of St Irene was celebrated on 4 May, but was later moved a month earlier to 5 April.

In Saint Irene the faithful found peace, because the beautiful woman always maintained a calm and serene temperament, even in her moment of martyrdom.

Prayer to Saint Irene

Saint Irene has a considerable number of devotees. It is therefore essential to know her powerful prayer, without forgetting that there are other important prayers, such as the prayer to the Virgin of Chapi, which is very good in different cases.

-Benevolent Saint Irene, greatest defender of the Sacred Scriptures, I express my admiration for you with this majestic prayer. I ask for your intercession and that of Almighty God so that I may have peace in these moments of suffering in my life. Help me in the difficult moment I am going through. Give me the wisdom I need to get out of this situation. Be my compass in this complicated journey of life. Forever and ever. Amen.

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