The Miraculous Icon of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou, Saturday July 28, 2012
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during His visit at the Patriarchal Monastery (October 27, 2009).
Miracles During the Life of St. Irene
St. Irene saves an unjustly imprisoned man
A group of wicked men were jealous of a certain relative of St. Irene who was a high ranking nobleman, and was from a proud and glorious family. These men told the emperor that this nobleman sought to murder him. The emperor imprisoned him in a dark corner of the palace and considered drowning him in the sea so that nothing would be heard of him neither would he be made worthy of burial. The relatives and friends of this lord, not being able to help him in any other way, ran to St. Irene and fell down at her feet. They begged her with tears to have mercy on her beloved relative and to save him from the unjust penalty of death. Being greatly moved, our venerable mother cried and comforted his relatives and friends saying, "Don't be sad, bur rather return to your homes hoping in the Lord and this same Lord will come to his aid." Our holy and God-bearing mother then went to her cell and implored the Lord to quickly come to the salvation of the unjustly condemned man. The Lord as the Lover of mankind hears the prayers of His servants and immediately came to the aid of this nobleman in a most amazing manner. During the middle of the night the emperor saw St. Irene first in his sleep and then again after he had awakened and she said to him loudly and fiercely, "Get up immediately, O King, and free the man you have imprisoned unjustly, because out of jealousy did they falsely accuse him. If you refuse to hear me, I will beg the King of the heavens to strike you dead and to give your flesh over to the beasts and vultures." Hearing this, the King became mad and said, "Who are you to frighten me and how dare you come into my bedroom with such insolence at this late hour?" She replied, "I am the abbess of the Convent of Chrysovalantou and Irene is my name." Saying this she pricked him twice on his side and he awakened from the pain with anger and then (how great the miracle!) he saw her in front of him, no longer in a dream but in real life and she again told him the same thing. She then exited through the door. The emperor cried out for his servants and they came running. The emperor then asked the nightguard if he had seen a nun come out of his room. The guard was bewildered by this question and reminded the King that all the doors of the palace were locked and that the King himself had all the keys on his bed. Then did the emperor realize that the vision was divine. In the morning the emperor had the condemned nobleman brought before them. He then questioned him trying to discover if the man in reality had made any plot on his life and why he had performed sorcery during the middle of the previous night. The man replied that he had never wrought any kind of magic and that the Lord is his witness that never did he plot against the emperor's kingdom. Putting away his anger the emperor meekly asked the nobleman, "Do you know the abbess of Chrysovalantou?" The nobleman replied, "Yes, she is a relative of mine and a most virtuous handmaid of Christ." The King then asked, "Maybe if I send someone there he will find her in the convent?" The man replied, "She never goes outside of the abbey." The emperor then sent for an expert artist to make a sketch of her face that he might verify the truth. In the meantime, he again imprisoned the condemned man. Knowing all that was happening by the grace of the Holy Spirit, our holy mother told the nuns on that day at the end of the Orthros, "Last night I saw a dream that the emperor sent so many noblemen here that they filled the yard of the nunnery. Do not fear, however, for God is working for our good." After a little while it came to pass as St. Irene had said and the noblemen arrived at the convent. Our venerable mother came out of the church and she called the noblemen in order to speak with them. On arriving they venerated her and as they were rising up, light as a great lightning bolt shot forth from her face and the noblemen fell back not being able to bear the intensity of the light. The saint lifted them up saying, "Fear not my children, for I also am a weak mortal. Why has that unbelieving one put you through the trouble of coming here? Tell him again, as I told him in the dream, to set that man free from the prison for he has done nothing against the emperor. If he will disobey me, everything that I prophesied to him will come to pass, for the Lord is not slow to answer those who call upon Him in truth." Hearing this, the noblemen became even more frightened and said, "We will relay your message to the emperor as you have said. We beg you now to teach us something for the benefit of our soul and toward salvation." They also said this in order to give the artist an opportunity to depict St. Irene more exactly. The depiction being finished, the noblemen returned to the emperor, telling him all they had seen and heard. When they showed the emperor her image, a lightning bolt came out of it and hit the king in the eyes and for hours he was unable to see. He was trembling from his fear and crying out "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy" and he remained in a state of shock for a while. Reviewing the image of St. Irene, he said it looked like the nun he had seen in his dream. Immediately he freed the nobleman and asked his forgiveness and gave thanks to God that he was spared the punishment he would have received for his unrighteous condemnation to death. He then wrote a letter to St. Irene saying, "We were delivered from danger by your holy order, O handmaid of God, and we give thanks to you. We also ask forgiveness for anything we might have done against your holiness and that we did not believe from the First vision, but rather we bothered you. Beg the Lord for us, as I and the empress beg you, to come and visit us and bless us with your own hands. If you do not want to come, then we will come to venerate you." The emperor sent this letter along with royal gifts to our venerable mother. She sent him a letter in reply which read "God as the Lover of mankind, O King, lowers himself to heal our illnesses and desires not the death of the sinner but rather his repentance. Therefore, thank and glorify Him and not me. It is not proper for your Highness to come here neither is it proper for me to go the palace. It is not necessary that the sinful and lowly handmaid of God bless you, for you have the patriarch and the other bishops of the church and the spiritual fathers of the monasteries. If you want to please God and wisely and piously and righteously rule your kingdom, follow the advice of these spiritual men. If you do not listen to me and come here, I will not receive you well and only God will you displease. If you listen to what I say to you the All-High One will protect you and always deliver you from every temptation." Our holy mother then sealed the letter and sent it along with some other things as a blessing to the emperor. The emperor piously received what her holiness had sent but was very sad that she had not accounted him worthy of seeing her holy face. In order not to scandalize her, he did not attempt to see her, but often sent her his respects and gifts and she the same. In this way, the emperor received much help and consolation from the handmaid of God, Irene. St. Irene's kinsman who had been delivered from death fell at her feet and cried so much that he washed her feet with his tears. She advised him to keep the statutes of the Lord in order not to be found in such temptations again, because such things happen to us because of our sins. After having properly instructed him, they together with the entire sisterhood gave thanks to God and she lead him to his relatives rejoicing.
St. Irene predicts the death of a friend
There was a certain man by the name of Christopher who was a friend of St. Irene's and a most pious and God-loving man. He would often visit the convent and our holy mother would always receive him, knowing that he was a virtuous man and they would converse. One day when Christopher had come to visit the saint and they had talked for a long time it came time for him to leave. He prostrated himself before our holy mother and asked forgiveness. The saint of God said to him, "Go my child and may God grant rest to your soul with the righteous." Hearing these words he remained shakened and sorrowful because as a wise person he realized that the saint was not saying this without meaning. When our holy mother realized that she had disturbed him with her words, she made it seem as if she was speaking about someone else and having duly consoled him she sent him home. He went forth from the nunnery without the slightest sign of illness and reaching his home, he ate well and then suddenly died in the evening. No one could have known about this except for our holy mother by the grace of the Holy Spirit. One of the sisters, who happened to be there when St. Irene made this comment, asked her, "My lady, why did you say that to Christopher and he left here sorrowful?" Our venerable mother responded, "Don't think that I said this simply to make conversation, but rather because I saw a young brilliant man standing behind Christopher and he was holding a sharp-edged sickle. I saw other men standing nearby and they were counting the years of Christopher's life on their fingers and they decided that today is the last day of his life. If you don't believe this, call your handmaid Evythia and send her to his home to see that he has died." So they sent Evythia to his house and she found the man dead. Then all the sisters were amazed and glorified God that He counted them worthy to have such a teacher and from thenceforth they paid much attention to her words for whenever she said to someone, "May God grant rest to your soul," that very day he would die.
St. Irene unfazed in prayer despite being on fire
One night as St. Irene was pryaing with her hands lifted up towards heaven, the demons came into her cell and began to scream in a terrifying voice. They spoke in an unfit manner and tried to distract our holy mother from prayer. They, however, were unable to faze the Saint. Nevertheless, the demons continued to taunt Irene and mimicked her by saying, "Wooden Irene, wooden feet hold you up. For how long will you torture our race, how long will you burn us with your prayers and how long will you hurt and make us sad?" Our venerable mother remained unfazed. This audacious demon then lit a candle from the votive lamp and continued to light the mantle and veil of the saint herself on fire. The flames reached down to the ground and burned not only the saint's clothing, but deep into the skin on her shoulders, chest, and back. Her entire body would have surely burned had it not been for one of the sisters who rushed it to put the fire out after smelling it from her own cell down the hall. Unbelievably, the saint continued to stand unfazed by the whole event. Irene stood tall, hands still in the air and praying to our Lord above. "My child", Irene said to the frightened nun, "why did you do such a bad thing and interrupt the good that was taking place? We shouldn't think about the human things, but rather about the divine. An angel was standing in front of me weaving a wreath of various marvellous and fragrant flowers and as he stretched out his hand to place this wreath on my head, you came in. You thought that you were committing a praiseworthy act but instead committed a most unpraiseworthy act. The angel saw you and left. You brought to me sorrow and I lost a great opportunity." The sister began to cry as she began to gather up the fragments of our venerable mother's habit. They were partly burned and stuck to her flesh. A glorious fragrance then came forth from her. This fragrance was sweeter smelling and more powerful than all the costly perfumes that could be purchased. This aroma filled the monastery for many days and the nuns glorified thy God for this was a true miracle.
St. Irene predicts the death of the King
At the time a certain eunuch of her sister (the wife of Caesar Vardis) came to visit the saint. Irene called him aside secretly and said to him, "Kyrillos, (this was the eunuch's name) tell my sister to prepare her things because in a few days her husband will die as an outcome of a plot of King Michael. After a little while this King will also lose both his kingdom and his life by another machination against him due to his foolish misdeeds. Be cautious not to say anything to anyone. None of our relatives should dare to rise up against the new king who will rise to the throne, neither should they deter him in any way, even if he will assume the throne after a murder, for God has loved him because he fears Him and God has been gracious to him." Learning of all this, the sister of Irene told her husband of the prophecies, being overcome by her love for him. Her husband from his pride and foolhardiness, rather than running to the Lord with tears and begging mercy, remained indifferent. He was interested only in learning who would be the next king and many times he sent messages to our holy mother Irene trying to learn the future king's name. A few days later he was killed in the military camp. King Michael was then killed in the same way and Basil the Macedonian became king.
St. Irene casts the demons out of Chrysovalantou
A noble and beautiful woman from Cappadocia, the home-city of St. Irene, was engaged to a certain man. Later on, however, she thought better of it and decided against marriage. She decided instead to become a nun at the famed monastery of Chrysovalantou. The demon grew jealous, however, and filled her ex-fiancé with tremendous sexual passion. However, the man knew well that he would not be able to enter the monastery. Instead, he hired a powerful magician, a most able servant of the devil to whom he gave him a large amount of money for the deliverance of the woman he wanted as his wife. The magician wrought his evil art in Cappadocia and the woman in the monastery went completely out of her mind. She began to run around the convent screaming and crying out the name of her ex-fiancé and swearing that if they did not open the doors of the convent she would suffocate. Our venerable mother heard the up-rise and cried, "Woe to me the wretched one, if by the carelessness of the shepherds the wolves snatch the sheep away. However, in vain do you labor, O sly devil, because Christ will not allow you to swallow my lamb." She then called the sisterhood together and instructed them to guard themselves against the snares of the demons and she ordered them all to fast for the entire week while praying to God and each one of them to make a thousand prostrations a day with tears for this sister of theirs who was undergoing temptation. Our venerable mother prayed in her cell daily for this sister and on the third day, she saw St Basil the Great in front of her and he said to her, "Why do you deride us, Irene? We have left our homeland and all the vile and impious acts take place there now. When the sun rises take your sick disciple and bring her to Vlachernae and there the mother of our Master Christ who is powerful will make her well." Having said this, St. Basil disappeared. St. Irene took the sick sister along with two other nuns and arriving at the Church of Vlachernae, they prayed the entire day with tears in their eyes. At about midnight, St. Irene fell asleep and in her sleep she saw many people dressed in brilliant golden clothes and preparing the roads with the most fragrant flowers and incense. Our venerable mother then asked why so much preparation was taking place. They answered that the Mother of God was coming and warned her to prepare herself that she might be accounted worthy to venerate God's mother. Then the Mother of the Life arrived followed by a vast crowd. So much did the face of the Virgin radiate that it was not possible for a mere mortal to gaze upon her. Our Lady having looked at all the ill, assembled in the church, looked at the disciple of St. Irene. Our venerable mother Irene fell at the spotless feet of the Mother of God, full of fear and trembling. The Mother of God then called on St. Basil the Great and asked him what Irene needed. St. Basil explained to the Theotokos exactly what St. Irene's need was. Hearing this the Theotokos said, "Call here, Anastasia!" When St. Anastasia had arrived, the Mother of God said to her, "Go with Basil to Caesarea, and study carefully the situation in order to cure this girl, for to you my Son and God has granted this grace." Venerating the Theotokos, St. Anastasia and St. Basil left in all haste in order to perform the ordained task. Our venerable mother Irene then heard a voice saying. "Go to your convent and she will be made well." On awakening, Irene explained to the sisters what she had seen and they went on their way rejoicing greatly. When they arrived at the convent it was Friday at the time of vespers and all the nuns were gathered at the church. St. Irene explained her vision and then ordered them all to raise their hands and eyes towards heaven and with all their hearts and burning tears to cry out, "Lord have mercy!" After a long time, when the entire floor of the church had become wet from the tears of the sisters, St. Basil and the Great-martyr Anastasia appeared floating in the air and the sisters heard them say, "Irene open your arms and receive this, and don't grieve us needlessly again." (St. Irene had been praying before the icon of St. Basil and begged him to free Caesarea from magicians). Stretching out her hands, St. Irene received from the midst of the air a package weighing about three liters and containing a host of charms including strings, hair, and lead, bound together with the names of demons written upon them. It also contained two small idols made of lead, one in the shape of the ex-fiance and the other in the shape of the sick nun, stuck together as if they were committing a sin. The nuns were amazed and remained praying the entire night. They thanked the Theotokos. In the morning, St. Irene sent the sick nun, along with two other nuns to Vlachernae. Taking with them the charms, oil and prosphora, they attended the Divine Liturgy. After the liturgy, the priest anointed the sick nun with oil from the vigil lamp and later put the magical charms on live coals. As the charms burned, the nun became well and regained her senses. When the spell of the charms was totally broken, a crying sound came forth from the coals that resembled the squealing of pigs at their slaughter. The nuns returned to the monastery glorifying God that He does such strange and magnificent things and on entering the monastery they told all what had happened.
St. Irene cures possessed man
Let us relate to you another of her miracles during her lifetime: A young man by the name of Nicholas used to take care of the vineyard of the convent of our venerable mother. Nicholas fell in love with one of the nuns of the convent and could find no peace day or night for desire of this nun. The devil led Nicholas to this passion in order to punish St. Irene. So much did the evil one darken the mind of this young man that one night as he made his way towards the convent he fantasized that he found the gate of the cloister open, went into the cell of this nun, fell down with her on her mattress and did that which he desired. He then actually fell down on the ground and began to grind his body up against the earth. Not only did he cut and bruise his body but he also gave the demon a chance to disturb him. In the morning, the doorkeeper opened the gate of the monastery and noticed him outside possessed, foaming at the mouth and writhing. She went and told our venerable mother what she had seen and asked her if she knew the reason that Nicholas was now possessed. Falling down in Prayer, St. Irene said, "Blessed are you O Lord, that you did not allow us to become neither the prey nor the victims of the demons." She then sent the young man to the Church of St. Anastasia to be healed. A few days later Irene saw a vision of St. Anastasia and heard the Great-martyr say to her, "To free yourself from this possessed man you sent him to me? Only you, my sister, can make him well." So, St. Irene ordered that the young man be brought to her. So that no one might learn of her miraculous power St. Irene did not cure the man immediately but rather they tied him to a column of the church. The saint, along with the other sisters, prayed daily for him. When the priest was serving the Divine Liturgy and had put down the holy gifts on the holy table after the great entrance the possessed man broke the chain that was binding him and ran into the altar. He grabbed the priest and began to bite his shoulder as if he was actually trying to eat his flesh. Immediately our saint of God rushed to the possessed man and ordered him to remain still. Seeing the saint, Nicholas wanted to run away, but he was not able to move at all being held tighter by the command of the saint than by any chain. When the liturgy had finished, our venerable mother remained alone in the church with the possessed young man. She prayed to the Lord and then addressed the demon. She ordered the demon to tell her the reason and the manner with which he had entered this man. The demon, forced by divine power, answered all of our saint's questions honestly. She then commanded the demon to come out of the man. Shaking the man and throwing him down to the ground the demon came forth. St. Irene raised the man up and advised him as to how to always be careful in avoiding overeating and intoxication. Never to be absent from church on any feast day and to pray without ceasing so that the demon might never again get a chance to bother him. When people would ask him, "Who cured you?" he would respond, "The Lord through the prayers of His angels." Nicholas went forth praising and giving thanks to God.
St. Irene prays in mid-air and cypress trees bow before her
One night a sister of the nunnery noticed St. Irene praying in the outer yard of the convent. Our venerable mother's feet were not touching the ground but rather she was standing in the air about two yards above the ground! Near her there were two extremely tall cypress trees. So long as our glorious saint was praying the two cypress trees bowed down to the ground and waiting for our venerable mother to finish her prayer. When finished with her prayer St Irene touched the treetops and blessed them in the sign of the cross as they returned to their original position! The nun saw this amazing site and became frightened. She watched this strange event for three hours. She went so far as to check the cell of her abbess in order to make sure that she was not dreaming. It was not a dream. So was the nun terrified that she did not mention the event to the others. Several days later the nuns noticed two handkerchiefs tied to the tops of the two cypress trees. Our venerable mother had tied those two handkerchiefs there for the glory of God because many times the trees venerate her. Awed by this strange sight, one sister began to ask another, by whom, and how, and when might these handkerchiefs been hung on the tops of such tall and slender trees. Then the sister who had seen the above stated miracle explained to the other nuns how the cypress trees bowed when their abbess prayed. On hearing this, the other nuns were filled with joy and began to cry and even scolded the sister because she did not wake them so that they also might see the miracle. When St. Irene learned that this nun had made known this great sign she became scandalized. She called the nun before her and asked her, "If you saw me, as a human being that I am, fall into sin would you tell everyone what sin I had committed?" Then our venerable mother warned this nun along with all the others, that if they ever reported another miracle as long as she lived that they would receive a very strict penance. The sisters saw countless other miraculous signs during our holy mother's life, but for fear of being chastised, they did not make them known to anyone.
St. Irene receives three apples from Paradise
It was the custom then of their convent to celebrate the feast of St. Basil the Great on the first day of January, because St. Irene had a great devotion to him as they were both from the same city. One particular year, after the priest finished serving the Divine Liturgy on this feast day, he came out of the altar and announced that there was a mouse in the altar that was defiling the sacred vessels and that the nuns should try to kill it. Our venerable mother went to her cell and prayed even for this seemingly very small request. When the priest was ready to leave the convent the abbess sent the ecclesiarch to the church and said to her, "Go to the door of the altar and there you will find a dead mouse. Throw it outside." The priest found the mouse dead just as St. Irene had said and proclaimed, "Magnified is God in His Saints!" On that same day, Wednesday, during the watch-guard of the night, our holy mother heard a mystical voice say to her, "Receive the sailor who will bring you fruit today and eat this fruit rejoicing in your soul." During the Orthros, St. Irene called two nuns to her and said to them, "Go to the convent's gate and you will find a sailor waiting outside. Bring him into the convent." On meeting, the sailor our venerable mother exchanged greetings and asked him from where he was and how it was that he happened to come to the convent. He replied in this manner: "My lady, I am a sailor from the island of Patmos. I had embarked on a voyage with my crew to come here to Constantinople for a certain service I had to perform. When we were passing by the far end of my island we saw on the land a most pious and handsome looking old man. This old man yelled out to us to wait for him. However we were close to the land and there were many rocks there. We had a good wind behind us and we continued to speed along farther and farther away. The old man yelled again louder and at that moment the ship came to a complete stop and this old man began to come towards us while walking on the waves. At that point, he took out of his shirt three apples and gave them to me saying, "When you arrive in the capitol, give these apples to the patriarch and tell him that God sent them to him from paradise by way of His servant John." Taking out three other apples he said to me, "Give these three to the abbess of Chrysovalantou whose name is Irene. Tell her to eat these in fulfillment of the desire of her soul because now I have brought these from paradise." The old man then gave thanks to God and blessed us and immediately the ship began to move and the old man disappeared. I gave the three apples to the patriarch and now 1 am bringing you the other three." Our venerable mother hearing this began to cry from joy and gave thanks to the beloved Disciple and Apostle of Christ. Then the sailor took the apples out of a silk and gold embroidered handkerchief in which he had kept them as divine possessions and he gave them to St. Irene with much reverence. These three worldly and incorruptible apples were so large and so beautiful in their shape and so fragrant that in their physical nature alone they were an amazing sight. The only explanation for the beauty of these apples is that they were from paradise.The sailor received a blessing and forgiveness from the abbess before he went on his way. Our venerable mother fasted for one week to give thanks to the Lord for this gift He had sent her. After giving thanks in this way she began to eat a small piece of one of the apples every day without eating food or even water for forty days. Whenever St. Irene would eat a piece of this apple a fragrance would exude from her mouth so strong that all the nuns of the convent could smell it. The entire convent smelled as if it had been washed with a most costly perfume and it truly smelled like paradise. When the day of Great and Holy Thursday arrived, St. Irene blessed all the nuns to receive the Holy Mysteries and having received communion our venerable mother cut the second apple and gave a piece to each nun to eat. They all ate of it without knowing what it was being only aware of its great fragrance and sweetness. Not only did they taste the sweetness of the apple with their mouths, but on eating it they also felt a sense of joy and jubilance in their souls. The third apple she kept as a very valuable possession and every time she smelled it, she felt joy and comfort in her soul.
St. Irene predicts her passing
On Great and Holy Friday, when our Master suffered His passion, our holy mother was in ecstasy and as the sisters were singing the service of the Holy Passions with much, compunction, she beheld a vision. She saw an innumerable amount of beautiful and brilliant youth come into the church holding in their hands guitars and singing hymns to the glory of God in great harmony, sweetly and gloriously. They were also carrying vessels filled with myrrh and they emptied these on the holy table. Then the angel who was waiting at the holy table cried out, "For how long my Lord?" A voice was heard answering the angel and saying, "Until the second Solomon shall come to join the heavenly things with the earthly and that they might become one, so long will the Lord magnify the remembrance of His handmaid." At this point the youth in white cried out the "Glory to God in the Highest" and ascended to the heavens. Our venerable mother, however, also had to pay her own debt as mortal man. An angel appeared to her and told her, "Be aware that in the coming year, on the twenty-eighth of the present month, when you will celebrate the martyr Panteleimon, you will come to stand at the throne of the Godhead." It was then July twenty-sixth and at the Convent of Chrysovalantou that they were celebrating the consecration of the Church of the Archangel for on this day was its building and restoration completed. The next year, when they were again celebrating this feast and the feast of St. Panteleimon, our holy mother received the holy mysteries having first fasted for one week according to the order of our Church. During that time she was praying and had not even drunk water at all during the week. She had only eaten of the holy apple that the beloved apostle of our Master Christ sent to her from Paradise. Before this time she had nor wanted to eat of this third and last apple because she wanted to have some comfort in this exile here on earth. Every time she or one of the sisters would fall into despondency or sadness or have a certain complaint, as humans are prone to, she would take the apple into her hands and from its unimaginable fragrance she would be immediately be filled with joy and would ponder what happiness awaits those who are to inherit the eternal heavenly kingdom. Again this time, upon eating the apple, the entire convent was filled with the heavenly aroma. After partaking of the apple, our venerable mother fell into agony, weeping, fearing death, and looking to heaven. The nuns, not being aware of what was happening, asked what had upset her that she was now crying. She replied to them, "Today, my children, I am leaving this world and you will no longer see me. When the hour will have come and I will leave this life for the eternal one, I want you to elect Maria abbess, because the Lord has chosen her as she will govern you God-pleasingly. Be alert to walk the narrow and difficult road in order to find the spacious place of paradise. Hate the world and the worldly things because all of these temporal things are vain. According to the divine order, hate your own souls in order to save them. In a few words, don't do anything that your flesh wants, but rather the desire of God, because only He can help you at the hour of judgement." These and other spiritually beneficial words did St. Irene say to her sisters during her last hour. Then she lifted up her hands and eyes towards heaven and prayed in this way to the Lord, "Master, Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Good Shepherd, who saved us with Your all-holy and precious blood, into Your hands do I give over Your small flock. Protect it in the shelter of Your wings and guard it against the snares of the devil, for You are our Sanctification and our Salvation and to You do we send up thanks and glory to all ages." Having prayed this prayer, she sat down and began to smile, seeing before her the holy angels, who were greeting her. Then her face began to shine as the sun and she closed her eyes as one falling asleep and she gave up her sacred soul to the Lord, having lived one-hundred and three years. Even though she had reached such a great age, her physical beauty had not faded as she looked like a young, beautiful girl, by grace of her virginity and by the fact that she had never known anything worldly. God had granted that the all-pure one remain in this state to give witness to the beauty of her soul and that grace had been bestowed on her by her heavenly Bridegroom. The nuns of the convent began to weep and wail and they mourned their mother worthily. The entire city, men and women of every age wept. Such a crowd of men and women came to venerate her holy relics that the convent was not able to hold them all. Neither was it possible for them to bury her, because of the pilgrims who were arriving. When the night arrived they managed with difficulty to bury our venerable mother according to the order of our holy Church. According to the custom, the bishops brought incense and myrrh and most-precious perfumes, but the fragrance that came forth from our holy mother’s relics far surpassed all of the earthly aroma.
Letters of Thanks to St. Irene
The monastery receives many letters of thanks with Saint Irene's miraculous interventions written from faithful around the globe.
A group of wicked men were jealous of a certain relative of St. Irene who was a high ranking nobleman, and was from a proud and glorious family. These men told the emperor that this nobleman sought to murder him. The emperor imprisoned him in a dark corner of the palace and considered drowning him in the sea so that nothing would be heard of him neither would he be made worthy of burial. The relatives and friends of this lord, not being able to help him in any other way, ran to St. Irene and fell down at her feet. They begged her with tears to have mercy on her beloved relative and to save him from the unjust penalty of death. Being greatly moved, our venerable mother cried and comforted his relatives and friends saying, "Don't be sad, bur rather return to your homes hoping in the Lord and this same Lord will come to his aid." Our holy and God-bearing mother then went to her cell and implored the Lord to quickly come to the salvation of the unjustly condemned man. The Lord as the Lover of mankind hears the prayers of His servants and immediately came to the aid of this nobleman in a most amazing manner. During the middle of the night the emperor saw St. Irene first in his sleep and then again after he had awakened and she said to him loudly and fiercely, "Get up immediately, O King, and free the man you have imprisoned unjustly, because out of jealousy did they falsely accuse him. If you refuse to hear me, I will beg the King of the heavens to strike you dead and to give your flesh over to the beasts and vultures." Hearing this, the King became mad and said, "Who are you to frighten me and how dare you come into my bedroom with such insolence at this late hour?" She replied, "I am the abbess of the Convent of Chrysovalantou and Irene is my name." Saying this she pricked him twice on his side and he awakened from the pain with anger and then (how great the miracle!) he saw her in front of him, no longer in a dream but in real life and she again told him the same thing. She then exited through the door. The emperor cried out for his servants and they came running. The emperor then asked the nightguard if he had seen a nun come out of his room. The guard was bewildered by this question and reminded the King that all the doors of the palace were locked and that the King himself had all the keys on his bed. Then did the emperor realize that the vision was divine. In the morning the emperor had the condemned nobleman brought before them. He then questioned him trying to discover if the man in reality had made any plot on his life and why he had performed sorcery during the middle of the previous night. The man replied that he had never wrought any kind of magic and that the Lord is his witness that never did he plot against the emperor's kingdom. Putting away his anger the emperor meekly asked the nobleman, "Do you know the abbess of Chrysovalantou?" The nobleman replied, "Yes, she is a relative of mine and a most virtuous handmaid of Christ." The King then asked, "Maybe if I send someone there he will find her in the convent?" The man replied, "She never goes outside of the abbey." The emperor then sent for an expert artist to make a sketch of her face that he might verify the truth. In the meantime, he again imprisoned the condemned man. Knowing all that was happening by the grace of the Holy Spirit, our holy mother told the nuns on that day at the end of the Orthros, "Last night I saw a dream that the emperor sent so many noblemen here that they filled the yard of the nunnery. Do not fear, however, for God is working for our good." After a little while it came to pass as St. Irene had said and the noblemen arrived at the convent. Our venerable mother came out of the church and she called the noblemen in order to speak with them. On arriving they venerated her and as they were rising up, light as a great lightning bolt shot forth from her face and the noblemen fell back not being able to bear the intensity of the light. The saint lifted them up saying, "Fear not my children, for I also am a weak mortal. Why has that unbelieving one put you through the trouble of coming here? Tell him again, as I told him in the dream, to set that man free from the prison for he has done nothing against the emperor. If he will disobey me, everything that I prophesied to him will come to pass, for the Lord is not slow to answer those who call upon Him in truth." Hearing this, the noblemen became even more frightened and said, "We will relay your message to the emperor as you have said. We beg you now to teach us something for the benefit of our soul and toward salvation." They also said this in order to give the artist an opportunity to depict St. Irene more exactly. The depiction being finished, the noblemen returned to the emperor, telling him all they had seen and heard. When they showed the emperor her image, a lightning bolt came out of it and hit the king in the eyes and for hours he was unable to see. He was trembling from his fear and crying out "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy" and he remained in a state of shock for a while. Reviewing the image of St. Irene, he said it looked like the nun he had seen in his dream. Immediately he freed the nobleman and asked his forgiveness and gave thanks to God that he was spared the punishment he would have received for his unrighteous condemnation to death. He then wrote a letter to St. Irene saying, "We were delivered from danger by your holy order, O handmaid of God, and we give thanks to you. We also ask forgiveness for anything we might have done against your holiness and that we did not believe from the First vision, but rather we bothered you. Beg the Lord for us, as I and the empress beg you, to come and visit us and bless us with your own hands. If you do not want to come, then we will come to venerate you." The emperor sent this letter along with royal gifts to our venerable mother. She sent him a letter in reply which read "God as the Lover of mankind, O King, lowers himself to heal our illnesses and desires not the death of the sinner but rather his repentance. Therefore, thank and glorify Him and not me. It is not proper for your Highness to come here neither is it proper for me to go the palace. It is not necessary that the sinful and lowly handmaid of God bless you, for you have the patriarch and the other bishops of the church and the spiritual fathers of the monasteries. If you want to please God and wisely and piously and righteously rule your kingdom, follow the advice of these spiritual men. If you do not listen to me and come here, I will not receive you well and only God will you displease. If you listen to what I say to you the All-High One will protect you and always deliver you from every temptation." Our holy mother then sealed the letter and sent it along with some other things as a blessing to the emperor. The emperor piously received what her holiness had sent but was very sad that she had not accounted him worthy of seeing her holy face. In order not to scandalize her, he did not attempt to see her, but often sent her his respects and gifts and she the same. In this way, the emperor received much help and consolation from the handmaid of God, Irene. St. Irene's kinsman who had been delivered from death fell at her feet and cried so much that he washed her feet with his tears. She advised him to keep the statutes of the Lord in order not to be found in such temptations again, because such things happen to us because of our sins. After having properly instructed him, they together with the entire sisterhood gave thanks to God and she lead him to his relatives rejoicing.
St. Irene predicts the death of a friend
There was a certain man by the name of Christopher who was a friend of St. Irene's and a most pious and God-loving man. He would often visit the convent and our holy mother would always receive him, knowing that he was a virtuous man and they would converse. One day when Christopher had come to visit the saint and they had talked for a long time it came time for him to leave. He prostrated himself before our holy mother and asked forgiveness. The saint of God said to him, "Go my child and may God grant rest to your soul with the righteous." Hearing these words he remained shakened and sorrowful because as a wise person he realized that the saint was not saying this without meaning. When our holy mother realized that she had disturbed him with her words, she made it seem as if she was speaking about someone else and having duly consoled him she sent him home. He went forth from the nunnery without the slightest sign of illness and reaching his home, he ate well and then suddenly died in the evening. No one could have known about this except for our holy mother by the grace of the Holy Spirit. One of the sisters, who happened to be there when St. Irene made this comment, asked her, "My lady, why did you say that to Christopher and he left here sorrowful?" Our venerable mother responded, "Don't think that I said this simply to make conversation, but rather because I saw a young brilliant man standing behind Christopher and he was holding a sharp-edged sickle. I saw other men standing nearby and they were counting the years of Christopher's life on their fingers and they decided that today is the last day of his life. If you don't believe this, call your handmaid Evythia and send her to his home to see that he has died." So they sent Evythia to his house and she found the man dead. Then all the sisters were amazed and glorified God that He counted them worthy to have such a teacher and from thenceforth they paid much attention to her words for whenever she said to someone, "May God grant rest to your soul," that very day he would die.
St. Irene unfazed in prayer despite being on fire
One night as St. Irene was pryaing with her hands lifted up towards heaven, the demons came into her cell and began to scream in a terrifying voice. They spoke in an unfit manner and tried to distract our holy mother from prayer. They, however, were unable to faze the Saint. Nevertheless, the demons continued to taunt Irene and mimicked her by saying, "Wooden Irene, wooden feet hold you up. For how long will you torture our race, how long will you burn us with your prayers and how long will you hurt and make us sad?" Our venerable mother remained unfazed. This audacious demon then lit a candle from the votive lamp and continued to light the mantle and veil of the saint herself on fire. The flames reached down to the ground and burned not only the saint's clothing, but deep into the skin on her shoulders, chest, and back. Her entire body would have surely burned had it not been for one of the sisters who rushed it to put the fire out after smelling it from her own cell down the hall. Unbelievably, the saint continued to stand unfazed by the whole event. Irene stood tall, hands still in the air and praying to our Lord above. "My child", Irene said to the frightened nun, "why did you do such a bad thing and interrupt the good that was taking place? We shouldn't think about the human things, but rather about the divine. An angel was standing in front of me weaving a wreath of various marvellous and fragrant flowers and as he stretched out his hand to place this wreath on my head, you came in. You thought that you were committing a praiseworthy act but instead committed a most unpraiseworthy act. The angel saw you and left. You brought to me sorrow and I lost a great opportunity." The sister began to cry as she began to gather up the fragments of our venerable mother's habit. They were partly burned and stuck to her flesh. A glorious fragrance then came forth from her. This fragrance was sweeter smelling and more powerful than all the costly perfumes that could be purchased. This aroma filled the monastery for many days and the nuns glorified thy God for this was a true miracle.
St. Irene predicts the death of the King
At the time a certain eunuch of her sister (the wife of Caesar Vardis) came to visit the saint. Irene called him aside secretly and said to him, "Kyrillos, (this was the eunuch's name) tell my sister to prepare her things because in a few days her husband will die as an outcome of a plot of King Michael. After a little while this King will also lose both his kingdom and his life by another machination against him due to his foolish misdeeds. Be cautious not to say anything to anyone. None of our relatives should dare to rise up against the new king who will rise to the throne, neither should they deter him in any way, even if he will assume the throne after a murder, for God has loved him because he fears Him and God has been gracious to him." Learning of all this, the sister of Irene told her husband of the prophecies, being overcome by her love for him. Her husband from his pride and foolhardiness, rather than running to the Lord with tears and begging mercy, remained indifferent. He was interested only in learning who would be the next king and many times he sent messages to our holy mother Irene trying to learn the future king's name. A few days later he was killed in the military camp. King Michael was then killed in the same way and Basil the Macedonian became king.
St. Irene casts the demons out of Chrysovalantou
A noble and beautiful woman from Cappadocia, the home-city of St. Irene, was engaged to a certain man. Later on, however, she thought better of it and decided against marriage. She decided instead to become a nun at the famed monastery of Chrysovalantou. The demon grew jealous, however, and filled her ex-fiancé with tremendous sexual passion. However, the man knew well that he would not be able to enter the monastery. Instead, he hired a powerful magician, a most able servant of the devil to whom he gave him a large amount of money for the deliverance of the woman he wanted as his wife. The magician wrought his evil art in Cappadocia and the woman in the monastery went completely out of her mind. She began to run around the convent screaming and crying out the name of her ex-fiancé and swearing that if they did not open the doors of the convent she would suffocate. Our venerable mother heard the up-rise and cried, "Woe to me the wretched one, if by the carelessness of the shepherds the wolves snatch the sheep away. However, in vain do you labor, O sly devil, because Christ will not allow you to swallow my lamb." She then called the sisterhood together and instructed them to guard themselves against the snares of the demons and she ordered them all to fast for the entire week while praying to God and each one of them to make a thousand prostrations a day with tears for this sister of theirs who was undergoing temptation. Our venerable mother prayed in her cell daily for this sister and on the third day, she saw St Basil the Great in front of her and he said to her, "Why do you deride us, Irene? We have left our homeland and all the vile and impious acts take place there now. When the sun rises take your sick disciple and bring her to Vlachernae and there the mother of our Master Christ who is powerful will make her well." Having said this, St. Basil disappeared. St. Irene took the sick sister along with two other nuns and arriving at the Church of Vlachernae, they prayed the entire day with tears in their eyes. At about midnight, St. Irene fell asleep and in her sleep she saw many people dressed in brilliant golden clothes and preparing the roads with the most fragrant flowers and incense. Our venerable mother then asked why so much preparation was taking place. They answered that the Mother of God was coming and warned her to prepare herself that she might be accounted worthy to venerate God's mother. Then the Mother of the Life arrived followed by a vast crowd. So much did the face of the Virgin radiate that it was not possible for a mere mortal to gaze upon her. Our Lady having looked at all the ill, assembled in the church, looked at the disciple of St. Irene. Our venerable mother Irene fell at the spotless feet of the Mother of God, full of fear and trembling. The Mother of God then called on St. Basil the Great and asked him what Irene needed. St. Basil explained to the Theotokos exactly what St. Irene's need was. Hearing this the Theotokos said, "Call here, Anastasia!" When St. Anastasia had arrived, the Mother of God said to her, "Go with Basil to Caesarea, and study carefully the situation in order to cure this girl, for to you my Son and God has granted this grace." Venerating the Theotokos, St. Anastasia and St. Basil left in all haste in order to perform the ordained task. Our venerable mother Irene then heard a voice saying. "Go to your convent and she will be made well." On awakening, Irene explained to the sisters what she had seen and they went on their way rejoicing greatly. When they arrived at the convent it was Friday at the time of vespers and all the nuns were gathered at the church. St. Irene explained her vision and then ordered them all to raise their hands and eyes towards heaven and with all their hearts and burning tears to cry out, "Lord have mercy!" After a long time, when the entire floor of the church had become wet from the tears of the sisters, St. Basil and the Great-martyr Anastasia appeared floating in the air and the sisters heard them say, "Irene open your arms and receive this, and don't grieve us needlessly again." (St. Irene had been praying before the icon of St. Basil and begged him to free Caesarea from magicians). Stretching out her hands, St. Irene received from the midst of the air a package weighing about three liters and containing a host of charms including strings, hair, and lead, bound together with the names of demons written upon them. It also contained two small idols made of lead, one in the shape of the ex-fiance and the other in the shape of the sick nun, stuck together as if they were committing a sin. The nuns were amazed and remained praying the entire night. They thanked the Theotokos. In the morning, St. Irene sent the sick nun, along with two other nuns to Vlachernae. Taking with them the charms, oil and prosphora, they attended the Divine Liturgy. After the liturgy, the priest anointed the sick nun with oil from the vigil lamp and later put the magical charms on live coals. As the charms burned, the nun became well and regained her senses. When the spell of the charms was totally broken, a crying sound came forth from the coals that resembled the squealing of pigs at their slaughter. The nuns returned to the monastery glorifying God that He does such strange and magnificent things and on entering the monastery they told all what had happened.
St. Irene cures possessed man
Let us relate to you another of her miracles during her lifetime: A young man by the name of Nicholas used to take care of the vineyard of the convent of our venerable mother. Nicholas fell in love with one of the nuns of the convent and could find no peace day or night for desire of this nun. The devil led Nicholas to this passion in order to punish St. Irene. So much did the evil one darken the mind of this young man that one night as he made his way towards the convent he fantasized that he found the gate of the cloister open, went into the cell of this nun, fell down with her on her mattress and did that which he desired. He then actually fell down on the ground and began to grind his body up against the earth. Not only did he cut and bruise his body but he also gave the demon a chance to disturb him. In the morning, the doorkeeper opened the gate of the monastery and noticed him outside possessed, foaming at the mouth and writhing. She went and told our venerable mother what she had seen and asked her if she knew the reason that Nicholas was now possessed. Falling down in Prayer, St. Irene said, "Blessed are you O Lord, that you did not allow us to become neither the prey nor the victims of the demons." She then sent the young man to the Church of St. Anastasia to be healed. A few days later Irene saw a vision of St. Anastasia and heard the Great-martyr say to her, "To free yourself from this possessed man you sent him to me? Only you, my sister, can make him well." So, St. Irene ordered that the young man be brought to her. So that no one might learn of her miraculous power St. Irene did not cure the man immediately but rather they tied him to a column of the church. The saint, along with the other sisters, prayed daily for him. When the priest was serving the Divine Liturgy and had put down the holy gifts on the holy table after the great entrance the possessed man broke the chain that was binding him and ran into the altar. He grabbed the priest and began to bite his shoulder as if he was actually trying to eat his flesh. Immediately our saint of God rushed to the possessed man and ordered him to remain still. Seeing the saint, Nicholas wanted to run away, but he was not able to move at all being held tighter by the command of the saint than by any chain. When the liturgy had finished, our venerable mother remained alone in the church with the possessed young man. She prayed to the Lord and then addressed the demon. She ordered the demon to tell her the reason and the manner with which he had entered this man. The demon, forced by divine power, answered all of our saint's questions honestly. She then commanded the demon to come out of the man. Shaking the man and throwing him down to the ground the demon came forth. St. Irene raised the man up and advised him as to how to always be careful in avoiding overeating and intoxication. Never to be absent from church on any feast day and to pray without ceasing so that the demon might never again get a chance to bother him. When people would ask him, "Who cured you?" he would respond, "The Lord through the prayers of His angels." Nicholas went forth praising and giving thanks to God.
St. Irene prays in mid-air and cypress trees bow before her
One night a sister of the nunnery noticed St. Irene praying in the outer yard of the convent. Our venerable mother's feet were not touching the ground but rather she was standing in the air about two yards above the ground! Near her there were two extremely tall cypress trees. So long as our glorious saint was praying the two cypress trees bowed down to the ground and waiting for our venerable mother to finish her prayer. When finished with her prayer St Irene touched the treetops and blessed them in the sign of the cross as they returned to their original position! The nun saw this amazing site and became frightened. She watched this strange event for three hours. She went so far as to check the cell of her abbess in order to make sure that she was not dreaming. It was not a dream. So was the nun terrified that she did not mention the event to the others. Several days later the nuns noticed two handkerchiefs tied to the tops of the two cypress trees. Our venerable mother had tied those two handkerchiefs there for the glory of God because many times the trees venerate her. Awed by this strange sight, one sister began to ask another, by whom, and how, and when might these handkerchiefs been hung on the tops of such tall and slender trees. Then the sister who had seen the above stated miracle explained to the other nuns how the cypress trees bowed when their abbess prayed. On hearing this, the other nuns were filled with joy and began to cry and even scolded the sister because she did not wake them so that they also might see the miracle. When St. Irene learned that this nun had made known this great sign she became scandalized. She called the nun before her and asked her, "If you saw me, as a human being that I am, fall into sin would you tell everyone what sin I had committed?" Then our venerable mother warned this nun along with all the others, that if they ever reported another miracle as long as she lived that they would receive a very strict penance. The sisters saw countless other miraculous signs during our holy mother's life, but for fear of being chastised, they did not make them known to anyone.
St. Irene receives three apples from Paradise
It was the custom then of their convent to celebrate the feast of St. Basil the Great on the first day of January, because St. Irene had a great devotion to him as they were both from the same city. One particular year, after the priest finished serving the Divine Liturgy on this feast day, he came out of the altar and announced that there was a mouse in the altar that was defiling the sacred vessels and that the nuns should try to kill it. Our venerable mother went to her cell and prayed even for this seemingly very small request. When the priest was ready to leave the convent the abbess sent the ecclesiarch to the church and said to her, "Go to the door of the altar and there you will find a dead mouse. Throw it outside." The priest found the mouse dead just as St. Irene had said and proclaimed, "Magnified is God in His Saints!" On that same day, Wednesday, during the watch-guard of the night, our holy mother heard a mystical voice say to her, "Receive the sailor who will bring you fruit today and eat this fruit rejoicing in your soul." During the Orthros, St. Irene called two nuns to her and said to them, "Go to the convent's gate and you will find a sailor waiting outside. Bring him into the convent." On meeting, the sailor our venerable mother exchanged greetings and asked him from where he was and how it was that he happened to come to the convent. He replied in this manner: "My lady, I am a sailor from the island of Patmos. I had embarked on a voyage with my crew to come here to Constantinople for a certain service I had to perform. When we were passing by the far end of my island we saw on the land a most pious and handsome looking old man. This old man yelled out to us to wait for him. However we were close to the land and there were many rocks there. We had a good wind behind us and we continued to speed along farther and farther away. The old man yelled again louder and at that moment the ship came to a complete stop and this old man began to come towards us while walking on the waves. At that point, he took out of his shirt three apples and gave them to me saying, "When you arrive in the capitol, give these apples to the patriarch and tell him that God sent them to him from paradise by way of His servant John." Taking out three other apples he said to me, "Give these three to the abbess of Chrysovalantou whose name is Irene. Tell her to eat these in fulfillment of the desire of her soul because now I have brought these from paradise." The old man then gave thanks to God and blessed us and immediately the ship began to move and the old man disappeared. I gave the three apples to the patriarch and now 1 am bringing you the other three." Our venerable mother hearing this began to cry from joy and gave thanks to the beloved Disciple and Apostle of Christ. Then the sailor took the apples out of a silk and gold embroidered handkerchief in which he had kept them as divine possessions and he gave them to St. Irene with much reverence. These three worldly and incorruptible apples were so large and so beautiful in their shape and so fragrant that in their physical nature alone they were an amazing sight. The only explanation for the beauty of these apples is that they were from paradise.The sailor received a blessing and forgiveness from the abbess before he went on his way. Our venerable mother fasted for one week to give thanks to the Lord for this gift He had sent her. After giving thanks in this way she began to eat a small piece of one of the apples every day without eating food or even water for forty days. Whenever St. Irene would eat a piece of this apple a fragrance would exude from her mouth so strong that all the nuns of the convent could smell it. The entire convent smelled as if it had been washed with a most costly perfume and it truly smelled like paradise. When the day of Great and Holy Thursday arrived, St. Irene blessed all the nuns to receive the Holy Mysteries and having received communion our venerable mother cut the second apple and gave a piece to each nun to eat. They all ate of it without knowing what it was being only aware of its great fragrance and sweetness. Not only did they taste the sweetness of the apple with their mouths, but on eating it they also felt a sense of joy and jubilance in their souls. The third apple she kept as a very valuable possession and every time she smelled it, she felt joy and comfort in her soul.
St. Irene predicts her passing
On Great and Holy Friday, when our Master suffered His passion, our holy mother was in ecstasy and as the sisters were singing the service of the Holy Passions with much, compunction, she beheld a vision. She saw an innumerable amount of beautiful and brilliant youth come into the church holding in their hands guitars and singing hymns to the glory of God in great harmony, sweetly and gloriously. They were also carrying vessels filled with myrrh and they emptied these on the holy table. Then the angel who was waiting at the holy table cried out, "For how long my Lord?" A voice was heard answering the angel and saying, "Until the second Solomon shall come to join the heavenly things with the earthly and that they might become one, so long will the Lord magnify the remembrance of His handmaid." At this point the youth in white cried out the "Glory to God in the Highest" and ascended to the heavens. Our venerable mother, however, also had to pay her own debt as mortal man. An angel appeared to her and told her, "Be aware that in the coming year, on the twenty-eighth of the present month, when you will celebrate the martyr Panteleimon, you will come to stand at the throne of the Godhead." It was then July twenty-sixth and at the Convent of Chrysovalantou that they were celebrating the consecration of the Church of the Archangel for on this day was its building and restoration completed. The next year, when they were again celebrating this feast and the feast of St. Panteleimon, our holy mother received the holy mysteries having first fasted for one week according to the order of our Church. During that time she was praying and had not even drunk water at all during the week. She had only eaten of the holy apple that the beloved apostle of our Master Christ sent to her from Paradise. Before this time she had nor wanted to eat of this third and last apple because she wanted to have some comfort in this exile here on earth. Every time she or one of the sisters would fall into despondency or sadness or have a certain complaint, as humans are prone to, she would take the apple into her hands and from its unimaginable fragrance she would be immediately be filled with joy and would ponder what happiness awaits those who are to inherit the eternal heavenly kingdom. Again this time, upon eating the apple, the entire convent was filled with the heavenly aroma. After partaking of the apple, our venerable mother fell into agony, weeping, fearing death, and looking to heaven. The nuns, not being aware of what was happening, asked what had upset her that she was now crying. She replied to them, "Today, my children, I am leaving this world and you will no longer see me. When the hour will have come and I will leave this life for the eternal one, I want you to elect Maria abbess, because the Lord has chosen her as she will govern you God-pleasingly. Be alert to walk the narrow and difficult road in order to find the spacious place of paradise. Hate the world and the worldly things because all of these temporal things are vain. According to the divine order, hate your own souls in order to save them. In a few words, don't do anything that your flesh wants, but rather the desire of God, because only He can help you at the hour of judgement." These and other spiritually beneficial words did St. Irene say to her sisters during her last hour. Then she lifted up her hands and eyes towards heaven and prayed in this way to the Lord, "Master, Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Good Shepherd, who saved us with Your all-holy and precious blood, into Your hands do I give over Your small flock. Protect it in the shelter of Your wings and guard it against the snares of the devil, for You are our Sanctification and our Salvation and to You do we send up thanks and glory to all ages." Having prayed this prayer, she sat down and began to smile, seeing before her the holy angels, who were greeting her. Then her face began to shine as the sun and she closed her eyes as one falling asleep and she gave up her sacred soul to the Lord, having lived one-hundred and three years. Even though she had reached such a great age, her physical beauty had not faded as she looked like a young, beautiful girl, by grace of her virginity and by the fact that she had never known anything worldly. God had granted that the all-pure one remain in this state to give witness to the beauty of her soul and that grace had been bestowed on her by her heavenly Bridegroom. The nuns of the convent began to weep and wail and they mourned their mother worthily. The entire city, men and women of every age wept. Such a crowd of men and women came to venerate her holy relics that the convent was not able to hold them all. Neither was it possible for them to bury her, because of the pilgrims who were arriving. When the night arrived they managed with difficulty to bury our venerable mother according to the order of our holy Church. According to the custom, the bishops brought incense and myrrh and most-precious perfumes, but the fragrance that came forth from our holy mother’s relics far surpassed all of the earthly aroma.
Letters of Thanks to St. Irene
The monastery receives many letters of thanks with Saint Irene's miraculous interventions written from faithful around the globe.