Irenaeus of Sirmium

Saint Irenaeus of Sirmium, Hieromartyr, was bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia (today Sremska Mitrovica, in Serbia) and received the crown of martyrdom in the year 304, in the persecution of Diocletian. He is remembered on 6 April (26 March on the old calendar).

It is held that before becoming bishop he was married and had children. When the persecution began, he refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, even at the request of his family. The governor of Roman Pannonia, Probus, gave him over to torture. His parents, relatives and friends, among them his wife and children, begged him in tears to spare himself and them and to renounce Christ, but he preferred wounds for Christ to all the wealth of the world and would not deny the Lord. After cruel torments and a very long time in prison, martyrdom came. They marched him toward the river Sava, where he knelt and prayed to the Lord for his salvation and for his flock. His last words were: “Lord Jesus Christ, who deigned to suffer for the world's salvation, let your heavens open that your angels may take up the soul of your servant Irenaeus, who suffers all this for your name and for the people formed of your catholic church of Sirmium. I ask and implore your mercy to receive me and to strengthen them in your faith.” He was then beheaded on 24 March 304 (according to one source, thrown from a bridge into the river), and his body was thrown into the river Bosut, a tributary of the Sava. The acts of his martyrdom survive in Latin and Greek versions. In his honour the new pedestrian bridge at Sremska Mitrovica bears the name Saint Irenaeus Bridge.