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SAINT IRENAEUS
Bishop and Martyr, -304
THE last and most terrible persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire was carried out under Emperor Diocletian in the fourth century. Thousands of brave men and women died for their faith, and Saint Irenaeus (there have been others with the same name) was one of those martyrs. The bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia (modem Yugoslavia), in the year 304 he was brought before the governor of the province and given the familiar choice: sacrifice to the gods or die. Irenaeus chose death and was given the unusual sentence of being drowned in the city's river. Too easy a death, the bishop complained, and asked for one in which he could suffer more for his faith. Irritated by the courageous request, the governor had Irenaeus beheaded and then, as a final insult to his body, had it thrown into the river.