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Holy Great Martyr Irene
The holy Great Martyr Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia in the fourth century, daughter of the local pagan king Licinius and his wife Licinia. At her birth her parents named her Penelope. Locked in a tower by her father with thirteen handmaids and a tutor named Apellian, who was secretly a Christian, she heard the gospel from him and from a dove, an eagle, and a raven that brought to her window an olive branch, a wreath, and a serpent, signs interpreted by Apellian of her baptism, her crowns of virginity and martyrdom, and the devil's wrath. She received baptism from the priest Timothy, who renamed her Irene, that is, Peace.
Refusing the marriage her father had arranged, Irene confessed Christ before him. She was tied beneath wild horses, but one broke loose and trampled the king instead, and she raised him by prayer. He was converted with his household, and Irene went on to preach and work miracles in the cities of Persia and beyond, suffering torments many times: cast into a pit of vipers, sawn with iron saws, set on a flaming gridiron, dragged behind a horse, and each time delivered. She is said to have brought five thousand souls to baptism. At Ephesus, after a final mock-burial, she came forth alive to the people and reposed in peace, hidden by Christ from her enemies. Her tomb was found empty four days later. Greek tradition keeps her as patroness of policemen and those seeking marriage.
Great-martyr Irene of Thessalonica
4th c.
“Saint Irene was the daughter of a princelet called Licinius; named Penelope by her parents, through a divine revelation she was brought to faith in Christ and at Baptism was renamed Irene. In her zeal for piety she broke in pieces all the idols of her father, who commanded that she be trampled underfoot by horses. But while she remained unharmed, one of the horses rose up and cast down her father, killing him. By her prayer she raised him to life again, and he believed and was baptized. Afterwards, in many journeyings, Saint Irene suffered torments and punishments for her faith, but was preserved by the power of God, while working dread miracles and converting many thousands of souls. At last she came to Ephesus, where she fell asleep in peace, in the first half of the fourth century. Two days after her death, her gravestone was found lifted off, and her grave empty. At least two churches were dedicated to St Irene in Constantinople, and she is the patroness of the Aegean island of Thera, which is commonly called Santorini, a corruption of “Saint Irene.” (Great Horologion)
Note: The most famous Agia Irene church in Constantinople is not named after her, but for the Holy Peace (Greek Irene) of God, which is Christ.
The Prologue’s account differs in several details. St Nikolai places St Irene in the Balkans in the town of Magedon, in apostolic times rather than the 3rd-4th century. In his account Irene learned the Christian faith from her teacher, Appelianus, and was baptised by the Apostle Timothy himself. He attributes the anger of Irene’s father to her refusal to marry rather than her smashing the family idols (though of course she might have done both).
Saint Ephraim the New Martyr and Wonderworker
Saint Ephraim the Great Martyr and Wonderworker, also called Ephraim of Nea Makri, was born in Greece on 14 September 1384. Orphaned of his father at a young age, he entered as a youth the monastery of the Annunciation on the wooded hill of Amomon in Attica, where he gave himself wholly to obedience, fasting, and prayer. He was ordained to the priesthood and lived for many years on that mountain, unknown to the world.
In 1425, when Ottoman pirates raided the monastery, Saint Ephraim was the only one left within its walls. They seized him and dragged him before their commander. For nine months he was tortured to make him deny Christ; he was hung upside down from a mulberry tree and a burning stake driven through his body, and on 5 May 1426 he gave up his soul to the Lord. The monastery fell into ruin, and his memory was forgotten until 1950, when the abbess Makaria, restoring the site, uncovered his fragrant relics in answer to her prayer. Saint Ephraim then appeared to her and to many others, made known the manner of his martyrdom, and began to work countless miracles of healing and protection that continue to draw pilgrims to Nea Makri to this day.
Venerable Adrian of Monza
Saint Adrian of Monza was a Russian abbot and monastic founder of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Born Amos in the town of Kostroma to pious parents, he fell gravely ill in his youth and vowed, if healed, to take up the monastic life. After his recovery he secretly left his home and was tonsured at the Tolga Monastery near Yaroslavl, taking the name Adrian.
Seeking deeper solitude he passed through several monasteries until a vision directed him to a place by the river Monza in the wilderness of Galich. There, with the elder Theraponte and a small brotherhood, he built a chapel and cells, founding the Annunciation Monastery on the Monza. He served as its abbot with great gentleness, sharing the labours of the brethren, fasting strictly, and pouring out his goods on the poor of the surrounding villages, who flocked to him in years of famine. After ruling the community in piety for many years, Saint Adrian reposed in peace on 5 May 1619 and was buried in the church he had built.