Irene (6th century)

Biography

She was as beautiful as she was pious and a young man fell in love with her when he saw her in church. He asked her in marriage and was rejected, Irene explaining that she had taken a vow of virginity and that if she continued to be a good Christian, they would see each other in paradise. The young man accepted it, but shortly after, one of Irene's teachers who tried to seduce her and was thrown out of his house, out of revenge, ran to tell the young man that Irene would soon be a mother. He, mad with rage, killed her when leaving the church and threw her body into the river. They found her on the bank of the Tagus River, in front of the town of Scalabis, which has since been called Santarem (Saint Iria or Irene). This saint is very loved in Portugal and Spain.