Saint Irene grew up confined by her father to live in a tower, because of her beauty, and here she received education.
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One day Saint Irene saw a dove enter her tower, holding an olive branch in its beak, which it placed on a golden table. Then she saw an eagle holding a crown made of thorns, which the eagle also placed on the table. Then she saw a raven enter through another window, holding a snake, and placing it on the table. When the young Saint Irene saw these things she asked her teacher the meaning of them, and he explained that they reveal the great Martyric struggle she would experience for God. He explained “The dove signifies the education of the mind, while the olive branch signifies the sealing and beginning of things and is a type of Baptism. The eagle, being the king of birds, foreshows by means of the crown, the victory you will have through chosen and good things. The raven with the snake signifies that you will taste of suffering and anguish.”
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An Angel of God taught Saint Irene about Christ and how a myriad of Souls would be saved through her, how the Apostle Timothy would Baptise her. Then the Saint Irene threw down the idols of her father and destroyed them.
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Her father attempted to torture her but died in the process. Saint Irene raised him back to life by her Prayers, and then her father and mother and many witnesses came to repentance and were Baptised.
