Empress Irene of Athens

[Maria]

Is Empress Irene of Athens considered to be a saint by True Orthodox jurisdictions?

There is an icon on sale of St. Irene the Empress by the Synod in Resistance.
http://www.conventofsaintelizabeth.org/ ... e-empress-(xeni.jpg

And then there is a post by a priest-moderator at Monachos who defends St. Irene as a saint.

If we wonder why she is considered a saint of the Church it must be first of all due to her role in defending the veneration of icons at a time when this was exceedingly dangerous. Indeed in one incident when her chamberlains smuggled icons into the palace for her, her husband the Emperor had the chamberlains whipped & paraded through the streets and one died from his wounds. Over this incident Leo no longer would live his wife. To this also of course must be added her convoking the 7th Ecumenical Council of 787. We must keep in mind how dangerous it was to have done all of this- in a way it was being a true confessor of the Faith.

As often occurs in the political world opposition to Irene centred around her son and his friends- issues to do with the veneration of icons and also issues of power inextricably were involved. In any case Constantine (or his friends) plotted against his mother and her friends then tried to seize him. Irene sought for a peaceful resolution but before this could occur her co-conspirators captured Constantine and blinded him. He died from his wounds and thus Irene was left as the first woman ever to rule by herself over the Roman Empire.

For the complete account, please see: http://www.monachos.net/forum/showthread.php?1976-Irene

If she is considered to be a saint, does she have a feast day or a church built in her honor?

[Barbara]

"The first woman ever to rule by herself over the --- ROMAN ?? --- Empire".

Byzantine, yes, but Roman sounds to my ears as a misrepresentation, especially to uninformed Western readers who
were brought up associating the might of Rome as a great Empire with the smaller and weaker Byzantine one.

This is only my reaction. Others may feel that Eastern Roman Empire is a good title for the Byzantine one.

[GOCPriestMark]

"The first woman ever to rule by herself over the --- ROMAN ?? --- Empire".
Byzantine, yes, but Roman sounds to my ears as a misrepresentation, especially to uninformed Western readers who
were brought up associating the might of Rome as a great Empire with the smaller and weaker Byzantine one.
This is only my reaction. Others may feel that Eastern Roman Empire is a good title for the Byzantine one.

I am no expert, but:
According to Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary, the first known use of the word 'Byzantine' was in 1651.
According to Wikipedia" ""Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms applied in later centuries; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire (Ancient Greek: Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων, tr. Basileia Rhōmaiōn; Latin: Imperium Romanum), and Romania (Ῥωμανία).""

[Barbara]

Ah, thank you, Fr Mark, for that clarification !
I get it, now.

Interesting that the word "Romania" was employed. I guess from the script that was an ancient Greek term, as well.

[jgress]

The name "Romania" is first attested in the 16th century, according to Wikipedia, but seems to have originally referred to the province of Wallachia only. (Wallachia corresponds to the east and south of present-day Romania.)