Irene of Constantinople

Saint Irene of Constantinople was the wife of the Holy Confessor George, who suffered for the veneration of the holy icons in the first half of the ninth century. She is commemorated on 26 May (new style), together with her husband and their children.

The emperor Theophilus tried to force Saint George to renounce the veneration of the holy icons, but the confessor refused and told the impious emperor that, by venerating icons, we venerate their eternal Prototype. For his disobedience the emperor ordered George's property taken and plundered, and George himself dragged by a rope around his neck through the streets of Constantinople and thrown in prison. After that Saint George was sent into exile with his wife Irene and their children. In exile, after many sorrows, the holy confessor George fell asleep.