Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Sirmium (+304)

The Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Sirmium (+304) suffered in the time of Diocletian and Maximian.

Irenaeus was a presbyter. Together with his wife he brought up his children in Christian piety, and for his learning and strict way of life he enjoyed universal respect.

Later Irenaeus was consecrated Bishop of the city of Sirmium (Hungary). The hierarch, an ardent preacher of Christianity, was seized and ordered to offer sacrifice to the idols. When the lawless ones did not get their way, they tortured the saint cruelly. The witnesses of the torture, Irenaeus’s parents, relatives and friends, begged the martyr to obey the order, but the hierarch stood firm in the faith.

At last the saint was brought to the bank of a river. Saint Irenaeus knelt and for the last time commended the flock of the Church of Sirmium to the Lord. After the prayer the hierarch was beheaded and his body thrown into the river.