The Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Sirmium (Srem).

Commemorated March 26 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

It is thought that he was a Slav, and was married and had children before becoming a bishop. He suffered for Christ in the time of Maximian, under Probus, the governor. His kinsmen stood around him during his frightful sufferings, beseeching him with tears to spare himself and them; in other words, to renounce Christ. But this glorious hieromartyr preferred the wounds he received for Christ to all the good things of this world. A certain gardener in Sirmium, Seven, also suffered at this time under Probus, also one Afrius in Regia. Since Irenaeus would not renounce his faith, Probus commanded that he be thrown from a bridge into the river Sava, where this pastor of Christ's flock died and took his place among the citizens of heaven. He suffered with honour in 304.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK