Because of her great Ascetic struggles and humility, Saint Irene was constantly troubled during her life, particularly during her Prayers. However she remained so strong and overcame all the temptations coming to her.
“Wooden Irene, wooden feet hold you up. For how long will you torture our race, how long will you burn us with your Prayers and how long will you hurt and make us sad?” Our Venerable Mother remained unfazed. This audacious demon then lit a candle from the votive lamp and continued to light the mantle and veil of the Saint herself on fire. The flames reached down to the ground and burned not only the Saint’s clothing, but deep into the skin on her shoulders, chest, and back. Her entire body would have surely burned had it not been for one of the Sisters who rushed it to put the fire out after smelling it from her own cell down the hall. Unbelievably, the Saint continued to stand unfazed by the whole event. Irene stood tall, hands still in the air and Praying to our Lord above. “My child”, Irene said to the frightened Nun, “why did you do such a bad thing and interrupt the good that was taking place? We shouldn’t think about the human things, but rather about the Divine. An Angel was standing in front of me weaving a wreath of various marvellous and fragrant flowers and as he stretched out his hand to place this wreath on my head, you came in. You thought that you were committing a praiseworthy act but instead committed a most unpraiseworthy act. The Angel saw you and left. You brought to me sorrow and I lost a great opportunity.”
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