Страдание святой великомученицы Ирины

At a time when the light of the holy Christian faith, thanks to the preaching of the apostles, shone among people immersed in the darkness of serving idols, in the city of Mageddon 2981 there lived a prince named Licinius 2982. He had a wife who, like him, bore the name of Licinia. They named the daughter they had born Penelope. When she began to grow up and turned 6 years old, she seemed to have an unusually beautiful face, so that she outshone all her peers with her appearance. Her father built for her far outside the city in a picturesque place a pillar, which contained many rooms, decorated with the most elegant taste and shining with wealth. The chairs, tables, lamps, beds and all the vessels were bound in pure gold. On this pillar he raised his daughter Penelope along with thirteen beautiful girls and placed his golden idols there so that they would guard his daughter. He appointed his daughter to live in this pillar until she reached marriageable age. Licinius assigned one honest old woman named Karia to his daughter as a teacher, ordering her to constantly be with her daughter and eat food with her and entrusting her with authority over all the girls. In addition, Licinius instructed one venerable and prudent old man, named Apelian, to go to his daughter every day and teach her book wisdom. The girl spent six years and three months in this way, and when she was 12 years old, her father began to ponder which of the most glorious princely sons he should give her in marriage 2983. One day, when the girl was sitting in her room, a dove flew into her open window facing east, holding a small branch in its beak; placing it on the table, he immediately flew out of the room through the window. Then, an hour later, an eagle flew into the room with a wreath of different flowers, and he, too, placing the wreath on the table, immediately flew away. Then a raven flew in through another window, carrying a small snake in its beak, which it placed on the table, and itself also flew away. Seeing all this, the young woman, together with her teacher, were very surprised, wondering what this arrival of birds foreshadowed? When teacher Apelian came to them, they told him what had happened. Apelian was a secret Christian and possessed the gift of clairvoyance. Having discussed within himself everything conveyed by them, he said, turning to Penelope: “Know, my daughter, that the dove means your good character, your meekness, humility and maiden chastity.” The olive branch signifies God's grace, which will be given to you through baptism. An eagle, soaring high, represents a king and a conqueror, signifies that you will reign over your passions and, having risen in the mind of God, you will defeat invisible enemies, just as an eagle defeats birds. A crown of flowers is a sign of the reward that you will receive for your exploits from the King Christ in His heavenly kingdom, where an imperishable crown of eternal glory is being prepared for you. A raven with a snake signifies the enemy, the devil, who is trying to inflict grief, sadness and persecution on you. Know, maiden, that the great King, who holds heaven and earth in His power, wants to betroth you to His bride and you will endure many sufferings for His name. Listening to her teacher, the young woman composed his words in her heart, and little by little the fire of Divine love began to penetrate into this heart. The next day, Penelope’s father, Prince Licinius, came to Penelope’s pillar with the princess and his courtiers. He wanted to see her and talk to her about her marriage. Seeing that her face was shining with beauty, like a ray of sunlight, he was extremely happy and said to her: “Now, my dear child, you have already reached marriageable age.” Tell me now: whose prince’s son do you like more than all the others? I will give you in marriage to that young man. And he told her the names of the sons of many surrounding princes. Virgin Penelope answered her father: - My father! Give me only seven days to think about it, and then I will answer you. Fulfilling her wish, her father left her and went to his home. When Licinius left, Penelope, going up to the idols, said to them: “If you are gods, then you will hear me: my father wants to give me away in marriage, but I would like to remain a virgin, because the cares of life prevent me from serving God with all my heart.” Tell me: should I get married or not? The dumb idols were silent because they were soulless. Spitting on them, Penelope turned to the east and, looking at the heights of heaven, said: - If You are the true God - the One Whom Christians preach, I pray to You: tell me: should I take a husband, or should I always remain a virgin? Since it was already evening, Penelope dozed off. In a dream she saw an Angel of God, who told her the following: “Penelope! From now on, you will be called not Penelope, but Irene, for you will be a refuge and peaceful refuge for many, and through you many thousands of human souls will turn to God and be saved. Your name will be great and wondrous throughout the universe. What Elder Apelian told you about the birds you saw is true, since it was the Spirit of God who spoke through his mouth. This night a man of God named Timothy will come to you, instructed in Christian teachings and received the priesthood from St. Paul. This man also distributes the epistles of Paul to churches. He will grant you holy baptism and tell you what you must do.” After these words, the Angel disappeared. Penelope, having come to her senses, felt joy and eagerly awaited the arrival of the presbyter. Soon, indeed, the man of God Timothy came to the pillar, led and elevated to the pillar by the Angel of God. Joyfully received by the girl, he sat down and began to teach her, her teacher, and also all her friends the Christian teaching, and his words seemed pleasant to everyone. Having sufficiently taught them in the faith and revealed to them everything that was appropriate to know about the true God Jesus Christ, about the holy faith in Him and about the Christian sacraments, he baptized Penelope in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At baptism, Timothy gave her a new name: Irina and thus disgraced her to Christ, bequeathing to her to preserve her virginity in chastity to the end. Timothy also baptized her teacher Caria and all her maids; then he began to exhort Irina to be courageous in her martyrdom, which she should accept for confessing the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God, her immortal Bridegroom. Then Timothy blessed Irina and her peers and, entrusting them all to the grace of God, said goodbye to them. Blessed Irina and her maids glorified and thanked God day and night and diligently studied the apostolic writings that Saint Timothy left her 2985. Then she took the golden idols placed by her father and threw them down one by one through the window, saying: “If you are gods, save yourself.” Falling from a great height to the ground, the idols broke and crumbled into dust, but the saint laughed at their powerlessness and rejoiced in our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God. When seven days had passed, Irina’s father and mother with the nobles climbed up to her pillar and started talking to her about marriage. She answered them: - Know that I am a servant of Christ, I believe in Him, I love Him, the eternal King of heaven. I have betrayed myself to this Bridegroom, pure, heavenly and immortal. I do not desire another bridegroom and will not worship another God, for there is no God but Him. “Didn’t you see,” Irina continued, “the death of your gods, who fell from the window to the ground? They couldn't help themselves. How can they be your helpers? Your hope in them is vain and all your labors and expenses on idols are vain. Gold and silver had to be distributed to the beggars, the poor, orphans and widows; But you, having called artisans, forged soulless idols for yourself and through this deprived the poor of alms; Thanks to this, you have become enemies of the living God and servants of demons. How long will you continue to rage like an unbroken horse? When will you know the living God, will you know the One who can kill and give life? When the light of God shines in your hearts, then the devil, who draws a person from the light into darkness, into destruction, seducing people from the right path to the wrong, will flee from you. But you are the first to try now to flee from the devil, because he is angry and cruel. He is the seducer who closes the eyes of your hearts so that you do not know the truth. I ask you, father, I beg you: know the true God, who created everything with His word. When you decided to erect this pillar for me, you gathered many people for this work: some workers were three thousand five hundred people and three hundred overseers; and despite this, they barely managed to build the building in ten months. The Eternal God, with His one word, created the sky and the sun, the month and the stars, light and darkness, and called the light day and the darkness night; He contains the earth in the air, commanded the waters to flow for our benefit, made different trees grow, ordered the times, years and months, created animals on the earth, birds in the air and fish in the waters; Finally, with His most pure hands He created man, taking a handful from the earth, and made him the master of the entire universe, subduing everything to him. And God did all this in six days by one Word of His, which is His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, born of Him without a mother, co-essential and co-throne with Him. He, through the action of the Holy Spirit, was born and incarnated without a Father from the Most Pure Ever-Virgin Mary and lived with people, performing countless miracles: he gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, raised the dead and raised up the paralytic. The Jews, out of envy, crucified Him according to His own will - to suffer for our salvation. But after His death and burial He was resurrected on the third day by the power of His Divinity, ascended into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, sent down the Holy Spirit on His disciples and sent them into the universe, so that they would enlighten the darkened in spirit, convert the lost and save the lost; for He desires salvation for everyone, and His mercy towards the human race will never fail. Thus spoke the saint, and her speech seemed sweet to everyone. The prince and princess took their dear daughter and took her with them to the city. All the city maidens with wreaths on their heads came out to meet her and bowed to her, and all the people, gathering on elevated places, on the walls of fences and on the roofs of houses, expressed joyful cries and praises to the beautiful maiden. As they approached the princely palace, Saint Irene saw a demon who called out to her: “I have nothing in common with you in this city, young lady; leave our city, for no Christians live here. “I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to tell me who you are.” “I am a demon living in idols, a teacher of fornicators and adulterers, an assistant to the wise men, a leader of enemies, a friend to drunkards, I rejoice in bloodshed, I am the father of all untruth and lies, and all evil.” I tell you again: go and run away from our city, otherwise I will incite your father against you, arouse his anger against you and he will kill you. Many heard this voice of the demon, but did not see him himself. Blessed Irina, turning, said to him: “I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to leave this city.” The demon immediately trembled and became invisible. Then the demon entered the prince's heart and aroused his anger against his daughter. Calling the princess, Licinius told her: – What should we do? Our daughter is caught in a snare by Christians. Oh, why did I erect this pillar! I wanted to save my child, but instead I destroyed him. Now all my hopes are gone. - What strange things you say! Why was our daughter seduced and what bad did she do? “She believes in Christ and denies our gods.” “Let the gods who did not create heaven and earth perish,” the princess objected, “and may my daughter be worthy of the glory of Christ the King, who called her to eternal life!” In anger, the prince ordered the princess to be taken out of the palace. One of the maids conveyed this news to Irina, and she went to her father. When the king saw his beloved daughter, he bowed his head. But in his soul, at the devil’s slander, anger raged. Saint Irene told her father: - Why are you so sad, my father? Your kingdom is peaceful, you are not threatened by war; here I, your daughter, have come to you; why is your face so sad? “I would have been better off if I had not given birth to you.” How carefully I took care of you, erected a beautiful pillar for you, placed golden idols in it to preserve you, for your sake I decorated the pillars and beds with gold, and you repaid me for good with evil. - Explain to me, father, what evil did I do to you? - Saint Irene told him. – Is it really a no small sorrow for me that my daughter recognizes Christ as God and denies herself from my gods? - Father! I have done nothing wrong by believing in the true God and placing my trust in Him and not in your idols. - Make a sacrifice to the gods, Penelope! – the prince’s menacing cry rang out. “Do not change my name, father: I am not called Penelope, but Irina, and this name was given to me by an Angel in a vision and by a priest at baptism,” Saint Irina answered Licinius with meekness. - Make a sacrifice to the gods, not mine, but someone else’s child! - Licinius exclaimed again. - I will not sacrifice to them. It is they who excite you to anger; thanks to them you will be tormented in fire along with the pagans. Beside himself with anger, the prince ordered the girl to be tied up and thrown under the hooves of fierce horses. When Licinius' order began to be carried out, he himself came to see her death. But one, the most ferocious horse, broke away from his leash, rushed at Licinius and, grabbing his right hand, tore it from his shoulders, trampled the prince to death and then stood calmly in his place. All the other horses behaved meekly, like lambs, and did not touch Saint Irene. The horse that killed Licinius, at God’s command, cried out in a human voice, thus pleasing the holy martyr: - Blessed are you, dove of Christ, trampling the serpent 2986. You are glorious on earth and will be lovingly received in heaven. You will rejoice among the righteous. Eternal light and the palace of the immortal Bridegroom awaits you, like a wise and courageous maiden: being a woman by nature, you show the courage of a warrior. When the bonds were removed from Saint Irene, she resurrected her dead father through her prayer and healed his hand. Seeing such a miracle, the prince and princess, and their whole house, and many people believed in Christ - about three thousand people in total. Licinius soon left control of his principality in order to serve Christ more freely and settled with his wife and close people in the very pillar that he had once erected for his daughter; Saint Irina remained in the city, teaching the people faith in Christ, and led many to Christ God. She lived in the house of her teacher Apelian. After Licinius, another king named Zedekiah took control of the state. Hearing about Irina, he called Apelian to him and asked him if he had a maiden, the royal daughter Irina. Apelian answered this in the affirmative. Zedekiah asked him: – Don’t you know how she lives? “She lives the same way as I and everyone who believes in the true God.” Her life consists of fasting every day until the evening, in the evening she eats a small piece of bread and drinks one cup of water, does not have a bed and rests for a short time on the bare ground; She spends day and night in prayers to God and reads Divine books. The prince was surprised when he heard this, and sent the eparch 2987 for Irina, ordering him to bring the girl to him with honor. Having come to him, Saint Irene said: - Rejoice, you too, wonderful maiden! -Why did you call me? – Irina asked him. “Let’s sit down and talk peacefully and lovingly,” was the royal answer. – I fulfill the words of Holy Scripture, which says: “I will not sit with lying people and I will not go with lawbreakers” (Ps. 25:4). - In what way are we criminal? asked Zedekiah. The holy maiden answered this: - Every pagan who does not know the true God and worships idols is a criminal. “You force me, despite my reluctance, to torment you, not sparing you, the prince’s daughter,” Zedekiah objected. “Why are you wasting your time talking,” Saint Irene courageously answered him, “begin to torment me: I am ready for any torment for my Christ.” - Leave your madness, girl, make a sacrifice to the gods. - You worry in vain, king, troubled by Satan: know that I will not serve the demon and will not spare my flesh for the sake of Christ my Lord. Filled with anger, the prince began to consult with the eparch on what kind of execution to inflict on the saint. By order of the tormentor, they dug a deep ditch and filled it with snakes, reptiles and all sorts of reptiles and threw the holy maiden there. But she remained there healthy and unharmed for ten days, for the Angel of the Lord came down to her in the ditch and kept her unharmed; yet the bastards who were there died. Zedekiah, having learned that the martyr remained alive in the ditch, was surprised and believed that she had bewitched the reptiles with the power of her magic and killed them. He ordered her to be removed from the ditch and brought to him for interrogation. Sitting down at the judgment seat, he said to her: - Make a sacrifice to the gods who spared you: they killed the snakes, but they kept you alive, so that you would know their power and mercy and bow to them. - A madman, seduced by Satan, whom I despise! Did these wooden or stone idols ever kill snakes? You yourself will soon be cast into the pit of hell with your gods, whom you serve, and you will wallow in “utter darkness” prepared for you by Satan: “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). The prince, in anger, called carpenters with an iron saw and ordered them to saw through the holy maiden. When they tied the saint to a tree and began to saw, the saw did not touch the girl’s body and became dull, as if on a sharp stone; Finally, it broke in the middle. Another saw was brought, but this one also broke, and those sawing fell, injured themselves with fragments of the saw and died. Finally, the third, sharpest and strongest saw was brought, and Zedekiah ordered the girl to be cut along her loins. Having tied her up, they laid her on the ground, pressed her chest with a large stone, and began to saw the holy body of the great martyr: this time the saw touched the body and blood flowed out of it. Zedekiah then laughingly said to the martyr: - Where is your God? May He come now and help you, if He has the strength. At these words of Zedekiah, lightning suddenly flashed, terrible thunder rang out, and a whirlwind rose in the air; the servants who tormented the body of the holy martyr fainted. The prince ran in fear to his palace, and the people rushed from the square to their homes; a great rain fell like a torrent, with strong hail, and many of the tormentors fell dead, killed by lightning, thunder and hail. And the Angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, removed the stone from the chest of the holy martyr, healed her sores and raised her up healthy. Eight thousand people, seeing this miracle, believed in Christ. But the prince, instigated by the devil, again ordered the saint to be seized and again began to reason with the eparch on how to destroy her. The torturers came up with the following execution for her: they tied her to a mill wheel so that it would torture her as it rotated. But when they put water under the wheel, the water stopped, as if petrified; not a single drop of it flowed, and the saint was unharmed. The prince and his advisers exclaimed: - Oh, how great is her magical power, which transformed the water element into a different substance. The people, looking at this miracle, rebelled against the wicked prince and, with a loud cry of reproach and annoyance, began to throw stones at him and drove him out of the city. He, having come to his homeland, lived here for seven days and died of sadness, anger and shame. After the death of Zedekiah, his son Shebakh, wanting to avenge the shame of his father, gathered many soldiers, numbering about one hundred thousand, and went to war against the city of Mageddon. The inhabitants of this city, having learned about the approach of King Savakh, shut themselves up in the city in fear and said to Saint Irene: “We are dying because of you.” But she commanded them not to be afraid of their enemies and began to pray to God in these words: - You, who once heard Your servant, the prophet Elisha, hear my prayer and invisibly defeat this people who are going to destroy the city, blind our enemies, so that they understand that You are the only true God. And immediately, having heard her prayer, the Lord struck with blindness the prince and all the soldiers who were with him. Prince Savakh realized that it was Irina who brought blindness to him and his army, and sent a messenger to her with the following request: “I know now that the power of your God is invincible; I pray to you, pray to your God for me and for my soldiers, so that I and them can see clearly! Having compassion, the saint brought a diligent prayer to the Lord of all, and the prince and all those who were with him received their sight. Then Savakh sent to the city to tell the citizens these peaceful words: “Take me as your prince, just as you had my father as a prince; I will forgive you the dishonor you inflicted on my father. The citizens, seeing how great the royal army was, made peace with him, opened the city gates for him, bowed to him and recognized him as their king. When Savakh received the kingdom, he, at the instigation of the devil, became angry with Saint Irene and, calling the saint, said to her: “I forgive the city for its guilt, but I am angry with you, because you stirred up a rebellion against my father, and for that they stoned him; but if you also want to receive forgiveness from me, do my will: make a sacrifice to the gods and you will be free. The saint began to reproach the prince for his madness and thereby brought him into even greater anger. Savakh ordered her to be thrown into prison and began to consult with the nobles about what torture to invent for her. Meanwhile, the saint remained in prison for seven days. Here Christ appeared to her and said to her: “Fear not, my daughter, for I am with you, strengthening you.” Savakh ordered, having brought the martyr out of prison, to drive iron nails into her heels, then, putting a heavy bag of sand on her shoulders, he ordered her to be driven to one place, five miles away from the city 2988. The servants put the reins into the saint's mouth and drove her, like driving horses, to the appointed place. The saint, being so humiliated, said, turning to God: - Truly, “I was like cattle before You,” Lord. “But I am always with you; You are holding my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel and You will receive me into glory” (Ps 72:22–24). Looking to her right, the saint saw the Angels of the Lord accompanying her and rejoiced in her soul. When the tormentors arrived at the appointed place, the servants turned back to the city, leading the holy martyr on the reins with curses. Many people followed them, and the saint saw before her an Angel striking the ground with a rod and thought to herself: “The enemies of God will perish.” When they reached the place where the Angel stood, the earth suddenly disintegrated and devoured the servants of the tormentor who were leading the saint. The saint felt herself released from her bonds, and invisible hands removed the bag of sand from her shoulders, the nails fell out of her feet, and she became healthy with her legs and walked, praising God. The prince, having learned about this, said: “The gods opened up the earth and took my servants underground from this sorceress. But others objected to him, saying: – The Living God is with the holy martyr Irene! Others reviled the holy maiden with abusive words. Then the Angel, opening the earth, struck with sudden death many unbelievers, numbering up to ten thousand; the survivors of the pagans cried out: - God of Irina, have mercy on us, for we believe in You and resort to You. At this time, about thirty thousand people actually believed in Christ. However, Prince Savakh did not believe in God, and the Angel of God struck him with death for this. Meanwhile, Saint Irene continued to preach the name of Christ in the city and performed many miracles by the power of Christ. She not only healed the sick, cleansed lepers and cast out demons from people, but she resurrected a dead young man, bitterly mourned by his parents, and converted up to ten thousand people to Christ. At this time, at the command of God, Saint Timothy the Presbyter came to the city and baptized Saint Irene. Having joyfully met him, Saint Irina, together with him and other people who believed in Christ, went to the pillar where her father and mother lived, working for God in silence, and there everyone who believed in Christ received holy baptism. Saint Irene spent three years in the city of Mageddon, teaching people and confirming them in the faith of Christ. Then she went to another city, named Kallipolis 2989, where Prince Numerian, a relative of Irene’s persecutors, kings Zedekiah and Shebahu, ruled. When Irina entered the city, the pagans celebrated an unholy holiday there in honor of the goddess Artemis 2990, and the king made a sacrifice before the idol. Saint Irene stood before him, convicted him of wickedness and confessed Christ as the true God. The prince said to his nobles: “This girl is similar in face and height to her father Licinius, but bad children are a misfortune for their parents. So, because of this young woman, her good father lost his kingdom. She, as I heard, was responsible for the death of my brother Zedekiah; She also killed his son, Savah, with her magic; Truly this maiden is the destroyer of kings. Numerian then said to Saint Irene: - What do you say, sorceress? Will you make a sacrifice to the gods or will you remain in your harmful delusion? The saint, making the sign of the cross, answered: “I will offer a sacrifice of praise to the Most High God, but I will not offer a sacrifice to your demons and soulless idols.” As for your relatives, the princes, know that it was not I, but my God, who has the life and death of everyone, who commanded them to die; Fear my God too, for you have few days left to live and soon death will befall you too. Hearing this, Numerian became inflamed with rage, gnashed his teeth, roared like a lion and ordered his servants to melt three copper oxen, deciding that if the saint overcomes the power of fire in one will, she will be thrown into another; if she does the same with another, then she will be thrown into the third. And so it happened. When the copper oxen were red-hot like hot coals, the saint was thrown into one of them. Here she began to pray loudly with these words: “Lord! Hasten to help me, who suffer for the sake of Your holy name!” The Angel of the Lord appeared to her. Exhorting her not to be afraid of torment, he cooled the flames of the fire. The people murmured against Numerian, saying: “It was in vain that you destroyed a young woman blooming with youth.” When the copper cooled, the saint was found alive and well, not at all damaged by the fire, and the prince said to those around him: “Didn’t I warn you that this girl is a sorceress?” See how she put out the fire; throw it into another ox. And the saint was thrown into another ox. When this one was miraculously cooled down, she was thrown into the third. And then this third ox, at the command of the Almighty and Almighty God, moved from the place as if alive, walked the fourth part of the race and, returning to its place, disintegrated, and the holy martyr came out of it unharmed. The people, seeing such a miracle, cried out loudly: – Great are You, God of Irina! Have mercy on us according to Your great mercy! You are our God, strong and mighty, working wondrous and glorious miracles! And then up to a hundred thousand people believed in Christ. Prince Numerian not only remained in unbelief, but also blasphemed the Most High God, for which, invisibly struck by the Angel of God, he fell mortally ill. Dying, he ordered his eparch Vavodan to subject Irina to various torments and then kill her with the most brutal execution. When the wicked prince Numerian died, Saint Irene, staying in the city, continued to teach the people faith in Christ the Lord and healed all sorts of ailments; and Presbyter Timothy, who came there at that time, baptized those who believed in Christ. The eparch, seeing that all the people sympathized with Saint Irene, was afraid to subject her to torment in this city, fearing to arouse murmuring and rebellion among the people. He went to another city called Constantine 2991, and ordered his soldiers to lead the martyr with him. Arriving in this city, he sat down at the judgment seat and said to the saint: - Do you know that I have been given power over you? Come to our gods and offer them a sacrifice; otherwise I will give you over to severe torment. “Listen, eparch, to my answer: give me over to all the torments you can invent and you will see the power of God.” The eparch ordered an iron grate to be brought and, placing the martyr on the grate, he ordered her to be tied to it with iron chains; then, placing wood under the grate, he ordered it to be lit. A strong fire began to blaze, and then, by order of the eparch, they began to pour oil, lard and resin on the martyr; They tortured the saint in this way for several hours; the grating and iron chains glowed red hot. However, the saint remained unharmed and sang, glorifying God, as if cold dew was watering her. Then the iron chains fell off her, and she stood up healthy and completely unharmed. The eparch and his advisers, seeing this, were greatly surprised. Falling at the saint’s feet, the eparch said to her: - Servant of the true God! I beg you, do not destroy me, as you destroyed our princes, for I also believe in the Son of God and want to be a Christian. And so the eparch Vavodan and with him many people believed in Christ. An angel of God brought presbyter Timothy to this city, and all who believed in Christ were baptized by him. Having stayed in this city for fifty days, Saint Irene left there and was captured by the soldiers of Prince Savorius, who lived in the Thracian city of Mesemvria. She was brought to him because this prince had heard about her and had long wanted to capture her. Seeing the saint, he became enraged, executed her with a sword, and she was buried outside the city. After this, Savory said publicly: “Terrible rumors circulated about this sorceress, since she killed princes with her spells. Why now could she not kill me, but I killed her, and where is her helper Christ? Why didn't He deliver her from my hands? So the unfaithful king reviled the power of Christ and was proud of himself as the conqueror of Irina. But what is impossible for the almighty power of God? He who, during His free death, “resurrected many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep”, so that they, “coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, entered the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:52–53). Could not this one also raise this saint from the dead, so that she would enter Mesemvria and appear to the prince? Truly Christ our God is mighty in heaven and on earth and does whatever he pleases. He sent His Angel and raised Saint Irene alive from the grave; at the same time the Angel of the Lord said to her: - Although you have already accomplished the feat of your suffering and it was fitting for you to rest, for you are worthy of bliss in heaven; but so that the wicked and lawless packs do not rise up, boasting that they have overcome the power of our God, go into the city so that they will see you alive and all the wicked will be put to shame, knowing that our God is omnipotent; You will no longer accept any suffering from anyone. And the saint entered the city of Mesemvria, holding an olive branch in her hand. When the citizens saw her, their hearts were filled with great horror and they were very surprised. All the people surrounded the saint with loud shouts: – Irina’s God is marvelous, and there is no other God besides Him. The prince of that city was informed that Irina had risen from the dead. Hearing this, he was very frightened and, seeing the saint, fell at her feet, saying: “Now I understand that your God is great.” I beg you to stay in our city and make us Christians. The saint remained with them for seventy days, teaching them the holy faith, and all the inhabitants of that city believed in Christ; the blessed presbyter Timothy, having come there by God's command, baptized the prince and all the other people. From here Saint Irene went to her homeland, to the city of Mageddon, where her father died around this time. And she mourned his death, praying to God for him. She remained with her mother for some time, and then she was transported on a cloud and placed in Ephesus 2992, and she walked around this city, preaching the name of Christ in an apostolic manner, and performed many miracles here, healing various ailments. With her preaching, Saint Irene converted many pagans from idolatry to the faith of Christ. After some time, Elder Apelian, who had once been her teacher, came to Saint Irene in Ephesus, sent to her by God. The saint, seeing him, was very happy. A few days later she told the people: - Rejoice, my brothers! The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you; be glad, rejoicing in our Lord, and stand strong in the faith. I leave you and thank you for accepting me, a wanderer. Know that everyone who welcomes strangers becomes a friend of the Heavenly God. The citizens, after listening to her words, began to ask each other: -Where is our teacher going? - Doesn't she want to die? - She is worthy of God; it will be taken away from our eyes, because we are sinners. The next day, Saint Irene, taking Elder Apelian and six reverent men, went with them out of the city and, finding a new empty coffin in a stone rock, in which no one had ever been laid, entered this coffin and said to Apelian and the other men: “Cover me tightly with stone on top so that no one can open me before the fourth day.” Then she expressed her final greetings to Apelian and the husbands who were with him. Then she made the sign of the cross and lay down. The men placed a heavy stone on top of the coffin and returned to the city. On the fourth day, Apelian with the same men came to the tomb, but, not finding the body of Saint Irene there, he thought to himself that Christ God had called her to heaven. He went to the city to announce this. Many gathered to the tomb and, seeing that the tomb was empty, were surprised and glorified God with horror. Thus ended the suffering of the Holy Virgin Irene; Such were the exploits of this virgin - the bride of Christ. She confessed her faith in Christ, first before her father Licinius, then before Zedekiah and his son Sabakh, then before Numerian, the bishop of Bavodan, and finally before Savorius. The cities in which she suffered are the following: Mageddon - her homeland, Kallipolis (or Kalinik), Constantine and Mesemvria in Thrace. She rested in the Lord in the city of Ephesus on the fifth day of May 2993. Having presented herself to Christ, she begs Him for the entire universe. The story of her deeds and suffering was written by Elder Apelian, to the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God glorified in the Trinity, to whom honor and worship is due from every creature, now, and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Your Lamb, Jesus, Irina calls with a great voice: I love You, my Bridegroom, and seeking You I suffer, and I am crucified, and I am buried in Your baptism, and I suffer for Your sake, as I reign in You, and I die for You, and I live with You, but as an immaculate sacrifice, accept me, sacrificed with love To you: through your prayers, as you are merciful, save our souls. The virgin was overflowing with kindnesses, you were the most beautiful Irino with suffering, you were stained with your bleeding blood, but you cast down atheism with charm: for this reason you accepted the honors of victory, by the hand of your Creator. Mageddon or Mygdonia is a city in Thrace, a region located along the northern shore of the Aegean Sea. The prince Licinius mentioned here should be distinguished from the Roman emperor Licinius (reigned from 311 to 324), who ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire. The latter had as his wife Constantia, the sister of Constantine the Great; and this one - Licinia; he lived in the glorious city of Nicomedia, and this one lived in Mageddon; he died in his wickedness, and this one died honestly, having believed in Christ; finally, he lived at the beginning of the 4th century, and this one at the end of the 1st century, almost in the time of the apostles. In ancient times in the East, girls were married at a very young age (this was also the custom here in Russia in the old days). The name “Irina” comes from the Greek word ειρήνη/eirini - peace, prosperity. The Apostle Timothy actively distributed among Christians the epistles of the Holy Apostle Paul, especially those (two) that were written in his name. Those. the enemy of the salvation of the human race - the devil. Eparch is the head of a city or region. Field is a measure of length; was equal to approximately 690 of our fathoms. The city of Kallipolis was located, like Mageddon, in Thrace. Artemis or Diana is the Greco-Roman goddess of light and the moon, who was also considered the patroness of hunting. Constantine was located near Kallipolis, in Thrace. Ephesus was in ancient times a very large city in Asia Minor, at the foot of the mountains Kores and Peony; possessed an extensive harbor (now completely covered with silt), thanks to which he conducted large trade. In the history of the Christian Church, the city of Ephesus is remarkable as the place of preaching of the Holy Apostle Paul and as the site of the Third Ecumenical Council (in 431). The death of the Holy Great Martyr Irene followed at the end of the 1st or beginning of the 2nd century. You might be interested in: