Martyr Irene of Corinth

Martyr Irene of Corinth belonged to a group of martyrs led by Hieromartyr Leonidas of Corinth, together with seven or eight other Christian maidens: Chariessa, Nike (Nica), Galina, Kalista (Callista), Nunechia, Basilissa, and Theodora. According to tradition, they lived and prayed together (according to some accounts, in a cave), were reported to the pagan authorities, arrested, and imprisoned.

Accounts of their death diverge somewhat between sources: according to one version (adopted in the Synaxarion of the Orthodox Church in America), they were thrown into the sea but miraculously walked on the water singing psalms, after which they were recaptured by boat, weighted with stones, and drowned. According to another version (the Greek Synaxarion, a number of Russian sources) — specifically concerning Martyr Irene — her tongue was cut out and her teeth extracted, after which she was beheaded by the sword. Both versions may reflect different strands of a single shared tradition about a group martyrdom rather than contradictory separate accounts — both agree on the same group, the same year (258), and the same region (Corinth).

Her feast is kept on April 16/29.

CONFIRMATION OF DISTINCTNESS FROM THE GREAT MARTYR IRENE: Martyr Irene of Corinth is an independent, separately attested local martyr of Corinth, unrelated to the Great Martyr Irene of Thessaloniki/Magedon (baptismal name Penelope, daughter of the pagan King Licinius), who suffered in the first half of the 4th century and is celebrated on May 5 — a different century, different circumstances (isolation in a tower from childhood, a missionary-preaching life), a different feast day. No grounds were found for conflating these two saints who share a name.