St. Irene was a Portuguese nun who was martyred in the year 653 in defense of her virginity.

According to legend, Irene was born in 635 at Nabancia, now known as Tomar, a city in Portugal. She was raised in a powerful and privileged family and was sent to a convent school by her parents, who also arranged a private tutor for her. The few men who had the luck to see Irene claimed that she was really beautiful, and they were all enamored of her beauty.

When Irene refused to marry one of these men, he spread false information about her being pregnant. Irene struggled a lot because of this. The rumor didn't stop there, though, as another man who had been previously turned down for marriage was enraged by Irene's promiscuity planned a punishment, killed her, and dumped her body in the river. Nobody knew where she went, so for a while, it was believed that she had fled the city out of embarrassment.

According to legend, Irene's uncle, the abbot Celius, got a mystic revelation about the circumstances surrounding her death and the location of her body. Her uncle assembled a group of people and traveled to the location where he expected her body would be discovered. Irene's body had been carried by the water's currents to the coasts of Scalabis, which is now called Santarem, which means St. Irene.

The waves had subsided when the procession arrived, revealing Irene's intact remains. Furthermore, it came out that she wasn't expecting a child and that libel and slander had been used against her. The story of St. Irene (Santa Iria) spread after the monks conducted a solemn funeral for her. The Cova da Iria, where Our Lady appeared to the Fatima children, was named after her.

St. Irene of Tomar is revered as a saint and martyr in the Catholic Church and all of Portugal today. Her feast day is October 20 and she is Tomar and Santarem's patron saint.

Other Saints of the Day
Saint Martha
Saint Bertilla Boscardin
Saint Vitalis
Saint Acca
Saint Paul of the Cross