Feasts and saints with names like “IRENE”

Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Sirmium

Hieromartyr Irenaeus suffered during the persecution against Christians under the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian (284-305). He was a presbyter, and he and his wife raised their children in Christian piety. Saint Irenaeus was greatly respected for his education and strict manner of life. He…

New Martyrs Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene of Lesbos

New Martyrs Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene of Lesbos

Newly-Appeared Martyrs of Lesbos, Saints Raphael, Nicholas and Irene were martyred by the Turks on Bright Tuesday (April 9, 1463) ten years after the Fall of Constantinople. For nearly 500 years, they were forgotten by the people of Lesbos, but “the righteous Judge... opened the things that…

Virgin Martyrs Agape, Irene and Chionia, in Illyria

Virgin Martyrs Agape, Irene and Chionia, in Illyria

The Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene, and Chionia were sisters who lived at the end of the third century to the beginning of the fourth century, near the Italian city of Aquilea. They were left orphaned at an early age. The young women led a pious Christian life and they turned down many offers of…

Martyrs Leonidas, Chariessa, Nice, Galina, Kalista, Nunechia, Basilissa, Theodora, and Irene, of Corinth

Martyrs Leonidas, Chariessa, Nice, Galina, Kalista, Nunechia, Basilissa, Theodora, and Irene, of Corinth

The Holy Martyr Leonidas and the Holy Martyrs Charissa, Nike (Nika, Victoria), Galina, Kalista (Kalida), Nunekhia, Basilissa, Irene, and Theodora suffered at Corinth in the year 258. They threw them into the sea, but they did not drown. Instead, they walked upon the water as if on dry land, singing…

Great Martyr Irene

Great Martyr Irene

The holy Great Martyr Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia during the fourth century. She was the daughter of Licinius, the pagan ruler of a certain small kingdom, and his wife Licinia, and at birth her parents named her Penelope. Penelope was very beautiful, and her father kept her…

Saint Irene, with her husband and children, of Constantinople

Saint Irene lived in Constantinople in the first half of the ninth century. When her husband Saint George was sent into exile because he venerated the holy icons, she and their children went with him.

Martyrs Marcian, Nicander, Hyperechius, Appolonius, Leonidas, Arius, Gorgias, Pambo, Selenia, and Irene of Egypt

The Holy Martyrs Marcian, Nicander, Hyperechius, Apollonius, Leonidas, Arius, Gorgias, Pambo, and the women martyrs Selenia and Irene were natives of Egypt and suffered during the reign of Maximian (305-311). For their steadfast confession of faith in Christ they were subjected to a fierce…

Saint Irene Chrysovolantou

Saint Irene Chrysovolantou

Saint Irene was the daughter of a wealthy family from Cappadocia, and was born in the ninth century. After the death of her husband Theophilus, the empress Theodora ruled the Byzantine Empire as regent for her young son Michael. Saint Theodora (February 11) helped to defeat the iconoclast heresy,…

Holy Empress Irene (Schema-nun Xenia)

Holy Empress Irene (Schema-nun Xenia)

Saint Irene lived in the XII century and was a beautiful and virtuous daughter. The Emperor Alexios Komnenos noticed her and married her to his son John, who was called Kalioannis because of his many virtues. The virtuous Empress Irene, therefore, spent generously on charitable works. She even went…

Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons

Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons

The Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was born in the year 130 in the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor). He received there the finest education, studying poetics, philosophy, rhetoric, and the rest of the classical sciences considered necessary for a young man of the world. His guide in the truths…