Saint Irene the Great Martyr

According to tradition, Irene was originally named Penelope and was the daughter of a minor king called Licinius. A priest secretly baptised her and gave her the name Irene, which brought her into conflict with her father after she destroyed the idols in their household.

Her synaxarion credits her with many wonders: she is said to have survived three times inside red-hot bronze oxen, and after being put to death at Mesembria in Thrace, to have risen again. She spent her last years in Ephesus, where tradition holds she went on working miracles to the end of her life.