Virgin-Martyrs Agape Irene, and Chionia of Illyria

Agape, Irene, and Chionia were three Christian sisters martyred during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), commemorated together on April 16. The tradition records that they came from a devout family, were orphaned early in life, and dedicated themselves to Christ, declining marriage in order to live in prayer and ascetic discipline under the guidance of a spiritual elder. Their account is among the better-attested of the early martyrdoms, an early passio of their trial and execution having been preserved.

When Diocletian's edict commanded that the Christian Scriptures be surrendered and destroyed, the sisters refused to give up the holy books they possessed and would not eat food that had been offered to the idols. For this they were arrested and brought to trial. By tradition they were first examined before the emperor himself and then handed over to the governor Dulcitius, who attempted by threats and pressure to make them renounce their faith; when he failed, the case passed to the official Sisinius, who pronounced sentence upon them.

Sisinius ordered that Agape and Chionia be burned alive, and the two sisters surrendered their souls in the fire. The synaxarion relates that when the fire died down their bodies and even their garments were found unharmed by the flames, their faces peaceful as though they were asleep. Irene, the youngest, remained steadfast under further interrogation and was condemned the following day; she was put to death by an arrow. By tradition their martyrdom fell around the time of Pascha, about the year 304.