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. Agia Theodora (February 11) helped to defeat the iconoclast heresy and to restore the holy icons.
We commemorate this Triumph of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday of Great Lent. When Michael was twelve years of age, Agia Theodora sent messengers throughout the Empire to find a suitably virtuous and refined girl to be his wife. Saint Irene was chosen, and she agreed to the marriage.
Olympus in Asia Minor, Irene asked to stop so she could receive the blessing of Agios Joannicius (November 4), who lived on the mountain. The saint, who showed himself only to the most worthy pilgrims, foresaw the arrival of Saint Irene, and also her future life. The holy ascetic welcomed her and told her to proceed to Constantinople, where the women’s monastery of Chrysovalantou had need of her.
Amazed at his clairvoyance, Irene fell to the ground and asked Agios Joannicius for his blessing. After blessing her and giving her spiritual counsel, he sent her on her way. When the party arrived in Constantinople, Irene’s relatives met her with great ceremony.
Since “the steps of a man are rightly ordered by the Lord” (Ps. 36/37:23), God arranged for Michael to marry another girl a few days before, so that Irene might be free to become a bride of Christ. Far from being disappointed, Irene rejoiced at this turn of events.
Remembering the words of Agios Joannicius, Irene visited the Monastery of Chrysovalantou. She was so impressed by the nuns and their way of life that she freed her slaves and distributed her wealth to the poor. She exchanged her fine clothing for the simple garb of a nun and served the sisters with great humility and obedience.
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