St Irene of Chrysovolantou
Feast Day Celebrated July 28
St Irene is a wonderworker who had the gift of foresight. Countless miracles surround St. Irene. First of these was the fragrance, the same present at the funeral, which continued at the saint's grave for years. Many more miracles occur at the site, and many prayers for St. Irene's intercessions are continually answered. One such series of miracles is for mothers who are unable to conceive: after asking for St. Irene's intercessions, often a child is born, and the parents will name their child after her. Saint Irene was more than 101 years old when she died, yet her face appeared young and beautiful. A great crowd of people came for her funeral, and many miracles took place at her tomb.
In this guide you’ll find simple and easy ideas to celebrate the the Feast of St Irene with your kids - emphasis on easy! Activity suggestions, book recommendations, and additional information so you can share his story so together you can grow to love her even more!
The Blessing of Apples Tradition
In some parishes it is customary to bless apples on the feast of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou. Here is the story behind why apples are associated with her feast day:
Apples from Paradise: After the feast day of St Basil (Jan 1) a sailor from Patmos came to tell St Irene how an old man walked on water towards his boat and gave the sailor three apples which God was sending to the Patriarch “from His beloved disciple John.” Then the old man gave three more apples for the abbess of Chrysovalantou. He told the sailor that if St Irene ate the apples all that her soul desired would be granted “for this gift comes from John in Paradise.”
St Irene ate small pieces of the first apple daily, without any other form of sustenance, for 40 days. When she ate, she smelt as if she was exuding myrrh. During this time, the remaining apples became more beautiful and aromatic. On Holy Thursday, she directed her sisterhood to receive Communion. After the Liturgy, the second apple was divided between them. When eaten, so sweet was the taste that the sisters felt as if their souls were being nourished.
An angel informed St Irene that she would be called to the Lord on the day after St Panteleimon's feast. St Irene prepared by meditating and fasting for a week. She took only a little water and small pieces of the third apple sent to her by St John. The whole monastery was filled with a heavenly fragrance, and all hostility disappeared.
After giving instructions for the next abbess she smiled when she saw the angels who had been sent to receive her soul. She closed her eyes and surrendered her soul to God. She was 103 years old yet still retained her youthful beauty.
It is customary to take fresh apples to be blessed at church on her feast day. These apples can be eaten or dried and kept on reserve when needed. They can also be given to others as gifts.
St Irene is particularly known for her wondrous healing, especially for couples who have a difficult time conceiving and bearing children. Holy Saint Irene, pray for us!
You can read more about the life of St Irene of Chrysovalantou here.
Activity Ideas to Celebrate St Irene of Chrysovalantou:
Bring Apples to Church to be Blessed
Contact your priest ahead of time (before her feast day - July 28th - and ask if he would be willing to bless apples in her honor. Then arrange with some friends to bring apples to the service, and invite the parish to join! It’s best if everyone in attendance leaves with at least one apple to take home. You can find the prayers of the Blessing of the Apples HERE (see also below)
Make an Apple Dessert
Using the blessed apples, transform them into a yummy apple crisp or something apple themed. Check out this blogpost “30 Easy Apple Desserts You’ll Love”
The Prayer for the Blessing of Apples
This prayer for the blessing of apples on the feastday of St. Irene was written by the Nun Isidora Agierotheitissa:
O Creator of everything and of all creation, O all-wise Creator and Governor and Foreseer, the Provider of every earthly and heavenly good, and the Distributer of gifts, O only immortal King, You Who feeds our bodies with the fruits of the earth, and strengthens our souls by Your mystical and invisible presence, You Who grants to Your sons and friends the good things of Your eternal Kingdom, and Who reveals the inscrutable Mysteries of Your will to Your Saints from all ages, and the richness of Your Love supplies all through the inheritance of eternal gifts, You Who the Venerable Irene pleased in the Monastery of Chrysovalantou through perfect asceticism, granting her the knowledge of heavenly Mysteries and the promise of Your Kingdom to come, Who granted her three apples from Paradise, through Your bosom-friend and theologian John, as a foretaste of joy that surpasses this world, which filled her with unspeakable fragrance and rejoicing, as a witness to the Divine Trinity Which had dwelt in her, Who taught her Your perfect desires and showed her life to be a fragrance of praise and a holy offering, do You therefore now, O Merciful Lord Who loves mankind, the spring of blessings and grace, Who sanctifies those who believe in You, and ever heals those who hasten to You, receiving everything that we offer to You with goodness, receive also these apples, and bless them through the riches of Your goodness, and grant to those who partake of them the holiness of Your blessing.
May these be for healing of soul and body, for this authority belongs to You. Dissolve the bonds of barrenness for all those who partake of these apples, and richly grant them children as the grains of sand. Heal the wounds of the soul, and the pains of the flesh for those who seek Your help, through the reception of these apples. For we count your intercessions for protection, O Saint.
Send down the peace from above on all those who honor you, as the namesake of peace, and the faithful healer of God, the Prince of Peace. Grant to us to pass through life without reproach, that we be made worthy to partake of the food of Paradise, while we partake of the fruit of grace mystically, and are filled with sanctification and partake of salvation. Confirm in us the fragrance of grace, which we lost through tasting of the apples in Eden.
Renew within us, through your intercessions, the Holy Spirit, to strengthen us in all things. Strengthen us in the good fight, and with Your radiant Guardian Angel may we complete the road of the faith. That we might, together with the Angels of God, give glory, and offer Him worship, worshipping the unbegotten Father, giving glory together with the begotten Son, and honoring the All-holy Spirit: One Trinity and Godhead, to Whom belong glory and worship unto the ages. Amen.
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