Agape, Chionia and Irene ( el, Αγάπη, Χιονία και Ειρήνη) were sisters and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

from

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

,"Agape, Chionia, and Irene, the Holy Martyrs", Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
/ref> martyred at Thessalonica in 304 AD. Agape and Chionia were charged with refusing to eat sacrificial offerings, whilst Irene was killed for keeping Christian books in violation of existing law. All were condemned to be

burned alive ''Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men'' is a best-selling book, ostensibly a first-person account of an attempted honor killing. The author, Souad, is described as a Palestinian woman now living in Europe who survived an attempted murder ...

Legend

Orphaned at a young age, the sisters Agape, Chionia, and Irene led pious lives under the direction of the priest Xeno. They declined a number of offers of marriage. In 303, Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

issued a decree making it a capital offense to possess Christian scriptures. The sisters hid their copies. Eventually, they were arrested for offending the

Imperial cult An imperial cult is a form of state religion in which an emperor or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title) are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship", not in the modern pejorative sense. The cult may ...

by not eating food that had been sacrificed to the gods. They were brought before Emperor Diocletian, who could not persuade them to renounce their faith, and as he was leaving for Macedonia, brought them with him. There they were taken to the court of

Dulcitius Dulcitius may refer to either of two ancient Roman officials active in the fourth century AD. * Dulcitius (Macedonia) was governor of Macedonia during the reign of the emperor Diocletian. He is chiefly remembered for his role in a hagiographic ...

, governor of Thessalonica. The sisters repulsed the governor's indecent advances. Annoyed with Dulcititus as ineffectual, Diocletian turned the three young women over to Count Sisinus for trial. He imprisoned Irene, the youngest; and making no headway in getting the older two to recant, ordered them to be burned. Afterwards the decedents appeared to be merely asleep as neither their clothes nor bodies had been scorched. After the deaths, their house was searched and the scriptures found and publicly burned. Sisinus ordered Irene to be taken to a brothel, but on the way the escort was intercepted by two soldiers who told them to abandon her on a mountain. When they returned Sisinus grew angry as he had given no such orders. He pursued Irene and she was wounded in the throat with an arrow, at which point she died. Four other individuals were tried with the sisters: Agatho, Casia, Philippa and Eutychia. Of these, one woman was remanded as she was pregnant. The fates of the other three are unknown.

Legacy

The story of their martyrdom is the subject of a 10th-century medieval Latin drama by the secular canoness,

Hrotsvitha Hrotsvitha (c. 935–973) was a secular canoness who wrote drama and Christian poetry under the Ottonian dynasty. She was born in Bad Gandersheim to Saxon nobles and entered Gandersheim Abbey as a canoness. She is considered the first female writ ...

of Gandersheim. The island of

Santorini Santorini ( el, Σαντορίνη, ), officially Thira (Greek: Θήρα ) and classical Greek Thera (English pronunciation ), is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from the Greek mainland. It is the ...

is named after a cathedral established honoring Irene in the island village of Perissa.

References

Sources

*Attwater, Donald & John, Catherine Rachel. ''The Penguin Dictionary of Saints''. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. . * (Includes the complete English translation of the ancient Acts of Agape, Chionia and Irene)
Full online text of Hrotsvitha's play, ''Dulcitius''
Fordham University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Agape, Chionia, And Irene 304 deaths People executed by burning Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era Saints of Roman Thessalonica 4th-century Christian saints 4th-century Christian martyrs Christian hagiography Late Ancient Christian female saints Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian Sibling trios