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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Name

Agape, Chione and Eirene, martyrs of Thessalonike

Saint ID

S00206

Number in BH

BHG 34

Reported Death Not Before

304

Reported Death Not After

304

Gender
Female
Type of Saint
Martyrs, Virgins
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00393The Greek Martyrdom of *Chione, Eirene and Agape (martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206) offers a plain description, devoid of references to miracles or relics, of the trial and martyrdom of three young women in Thessalonike (south Balkans/Greece) in 304, and indicates 1 April as the day of Eirene's martyrdom. Probably written in Thessalonike, at an uncertain, but probably early date; it is likely to contain genuine trial transcripts.
E01464The early 5th c. Syriac Martyrology commemorates on 2 April the martyrdom of *Chione and Agape (martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206). Preserved in a manuscript written in Edessa (northern Mesopotamia) in 411.
E02482The Latin Martyrdom of *Anastasia and Companions narrates the trial and martyrdom of *Chrysogonus (martyr of Aquileia, 00911) in Aquae Gradatae near Aquileia (northern Italy), of the sisters *Agape, Chionia and Irene in Macedonia (martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206), of *Theodota and her three sons (martyrs of Nicaea, S00257) in Nicaea (western Asia Minor), and of Anastasia (martyr of Sirmium and Rome, S00602) on the insulae Palmariae. Written presumably in Rome, in the 5th or 6th c.
E03221The Latin Martyrdom of *Cantius, Cantianus and Cantianilla (martyrs of Aquileia, S01552) narrates how the main protagonists, born in Rome and instructed by Protus, flee Diocletian and Maximian’s persecution to their estates in Aquileia; there they try again to flee from persecutors but are arrested, beheaded and their bodies buried by the priest Zoilus; an epilogue found in variant versions adds that Zoilus, who raised the virgins *Agape, Chionia and Irene (presumably the martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206), has a vision telling him of their martyrdom; it also adds that the sisters pray at the martyrs’ tomb with *Anastasia (martyr of Sirmium and Rome, S00602) before Zoilus dies. Written presumably in Aquileia, at an uncertain date between the 5th and the 9th centuries.
E03696The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th century, based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 1 April the visitation of *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) to *Elisabeth (mother of John the Baptist, S01328), Stephen the Sabaite, 8th c. monk, *Mary of Egypt (S00903), the martyrdom of *Agape, Chione and Eirene (virgins and martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206), and the beginning of the week of the Annunciation.
E03699The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 4 April *Antipatros (bishop of Bostra, S01645), *Theodoulos (martyr of Thessalonike, S00995), and, as a later addition, Theodora of Thessalonike, 9th c., and probably *Agape (martyr of Thessalonike, S00206).
E03711The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 16 April *Basileus (bishop and martyr of Amasea, S01634), *Leonidas and his companions (martyrs of Corinth, S01004), and *Eirene (possibly the martyr of Thessalonike, S00206).
E05537Bede, in his Martyrology, records the feasts on 1 and 5 April in Thessalonike (northern Greece) of *Agape, Chione and Eirene (martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206). Written in Latin at Wearmouth-Jarrow (north-east Britain), 725/731.
E06655Aldhelm, in his prose On Virginity, names *Chione, Eirene and Agape (martyrs of Thessalonike, S00206) as exemplary virgins. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/686.
E06659Aldhelm's verse On Virginity lists a range of saints as exemplary virgins, with some variations to the list found in the earlier prose version of the same treatise. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/710. Overview entry