and reverence in a subterranean chamber of the house. St. Chrysogonus afterwards appeared in a dream to Zoilus, and told him that Diocletian would order the three sisters to be seized in nine days, that God would cause them to be comforted by His servant Anastasia, but that Zoilus himself should not live to see their imprisonment. While he was telling his dream to the sisters, Anastasia entered the house, saying, "Where are my three sisters whom my master Chrysogonus recommended to my care?" They received her gladly, showed her the place whore Chrysogonus was buried, and begged her to stay some time with them. She stayed ono night, and then returned to Aquileia to attend to the wants of the Christians who were in prison. A9 she left the house St. Zoilus went to the Lord. Diocletian soon sent for the three sisters, and asked them who had taught them their vain superstitions. He offered them husbands out of his own palace as the reward of their renunciation of Christianity. As they were steadfast in the faith, he sent them to prison, where they were visited by Anastasia. There was great poverty among the Christians in those days. They all used to come to Anastasia for help. She daily prayed that she might not die until she had expended on them the last farthing of the sum she had obtained by the sale of her patrimony. Diocletian took the Christian prisoners to Macedonia. On his arrival there he ordered Dulcicius, the governor, to try them all, and torture and slay those who persisted in their religion, but to offer honours and other rewards to such as consented to sacrifice to the gods. When the three sisters were brought before him in their turn, he was struck by their beauty.
Here follows almost exactly the kitchen scene given in the Spanish 'Flos Sanctorum, except that in this version of the story Dulcicius falls asleep on the judgment-seat, and awakes when carried into his own house. Sisinnus is then appointed to continue the trial. He condemns Agape and Chionia to be burnt. They die praying in the midst of the flames, but their bodies and even their clothes are uninjured by the fire. Irene, who was younger, was condemned to a more cruel fate. As she was being led away by guards to the place of her doom, two soldiers appeared, and said, "The governor sends us after you to order you to take Irene to the place that we will show you." They proceeded to the top of a mountain and sat down. The two soldiers told the guards to go and tell Sisinnus that Irene was there, according to his orders. When Sisinnus saw that he was the subject of a trick, he was very angry, and rode off in haste to the mountain, where he saw the beautiful Irene praying and singing hymns. He rode round and round from morning until evening without ever being able to get near her. At last he was so enraged that he took a bow from one of his attendants and shot her with three arrows. She died rejoicing that she was accounted worthy to rejoin her sisters so soon. Her body was taken by the servants of St. Anastasia and buried with those of Agape and Chionia.
The third form of the legend says that SS. Agape, Chionia, and Irene were martyred at Thessalonica, in Macedonia, with their companions, Casia, Philippa, and Eutychia, and a man named Agatho. The three sisters lived in their father's house at Thessalonica. They are called virgins in some calendars ; but it is more probable, from their answers during the trial, that they were all married. When Diocletian ordered the destruction of all the sacred books of the Christians, they found a safe hiding-place for their own and some others that belonged to the community. They fled to a mountain, where they remained hidden from their persecutors for a year. When they were brought to trial, they were careful not to betray those who had fed or otherwise assisted them in their trouble. They declared that their father did not know where they were during that time, and that the books were hidden from their most intimate friends; "even," said Irene, "from our husbands." Agapo and Chionia wero burnt to death. Eutychia, who was a widow, was remanded to prison until after the birth of her child, which was imminent. Dulcicius, the
