SAINT IRENE - March 30th
written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome

 

Perhaps less well known is the story of Saint Irene (feast day 30 March). She was the widow of Saint Castulus, who suffered martyrdom during the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian. Her claim to fame is that she healed the wounds of Saint Sebastian, who, shot with arrows, had been left for dead. Once healed, and despite Irene's exhortations to leave Rome, Sebastian continued his Christain teaching and was finally clubbed to death. There is a fine painting by the French artist Trophime Bigot (c.1579-c.1649?): 'St Sebastian healed by Irene', from the church of St Tommaso di Villanova, Castel Gandolfo, that can be now found in the XIII room of the Vatican Pinacoteca.