The Greatmartyr Anastasia the Deliverer from
Potions, a Roman by birth, suffered for Christ at the time of Diocletian’s
persecution of Christians. Her father was a pagan, but her mother was secretly
a Christian. St. Anastasia’s teacher in her youth was an educated and pious
Christian named Chrysogonus. After the death of her mother, her father gave St.
Anastasia in marriage to a pagan named Publius, but, feigning illness, she
preserved her virginity.
Clothing herself in the garb of a beggar, and
accompanied by only one servant, she visited the prisons. She fed, doctored and
often ransomed captives who were suffering for their faith in Christ. When her
servant told Publius, he subjected his wife to a beating and locked her up. St.
Anastasia then began to correspond secretly with Chrysogonus, who told the
saint to be patient, to cleave to the Cross of Christ, and to accept the Lord’s
will. He also foretold the impending death of Publius in the sea. After a
certain while, Publius did indeed drown, as he was setting out with a
delegation to Persia. After the death of her husband, St. Anastasia began to
distribute her property to the poor and suffering.
Diocletian was informed that the Christians who
filled the prisons of Rome stoically endured tortures. He gave orders to kill
them all in a single night, and for Chrysogonus to be sent to him at Aquileia.
St. Anastasia followed her teacher at a distance.
The Emperor interrogated Chrysogonus personally,
but could not make him renounce his faith. Therefore, he commanded that he be
beheaded and thrown into the sea. The body and severed head of the holy martyr
were carried to shore by the waves. There by divine Providence, the relics were
found by a presbyter named Zoilus who placed them in a coffin, and concealed
them in his home.
St. Chrysogonus appeared to Zoilus and informed
him that martyrdom was at hand for Agape, Chione and Irene, three sisters who
lived nearby. He told him to send St. Anastasia to encourage them. St.
Chrysogonus foretold that Zoilus would also die on the same day. Nine days
later, the words of St. Chrysogonus were fulfilled. Zoilus fell asleep in the
Lord, and St. Anastasia visited the three maidens before they were tortured.
When these three martyrs gave up their souls to the Lord, she buried them.
Having carried out her teacher’s request, the
saint went from city to city ministering to Christian prisoners. Proficient in
the medical arts of the time, she zealously cared for captives far and wide,
healing their wounds and relieving their suffering. Because of her labors, St.
Anastasia received the name Deliverer from Potions (Pharmakolytria), since by
her intercessions she healed many from the effects of potions, poisons, and
other harmful substances.
In her journeys, she met a pious young widow,
Theodota, finding in her a faithful helper. Theodota was taken for questioning
when it was learned that she was a Christian. Meanwhile, St. Anastasia was
arrested in Illyricum. This occurred just after all the Christian captives
there had been murdered in a single night by order of Diocletian. St. Anastasia
had come to one of the prisons, and finding no one there, began to weep loudly.
The jailers realized that she was a Christian and took her to the prefect of
the district, who tried to persuade her to deny Christ by threatening her with
torture. After his unsuccessful attempts to persuade St. Anastasia to offer
sacrifice to idols, he handed her over to the pagan priest Ulpian in Rome.
The cunning pagan offered St. Anastasia the
choice between luxury and riches or grievous sufferings. He set before her
gold, precious stones and fine clothing, and also fearsome instruments of
torture. The crafty man was put to shame by the bride of Christ. St. Anastasia
refused the riches and chose the tools of torture.
But the Lord prolonged the earthly life of the
saint, and Ulpian gave her three days to reconsider. Charmed by Anastasia’s
beauty, the pagan priest decided to defile her purity. However, when he tried
to touch her, he suddenly was struck blind. His head began to ache so severely
that he screamed like a madman. He asked to be taken to a pagan temple to
appeal to the idols for help, but on the way he fell down and died.
St. Anastasia was set free, and she and Theodota
again devoted themselves to the care of imprisoned Christians. Before long, St.
Theodota and her three sons accepted martyrdom. Her eldest son, Evodus, stood
bravely before the judge and endured beatings without protest. After lengthy
tortures, they were all thrown into a red-hot oven.
St. Anastasia was caught again and condemned to
death by starvation. She remained in prison without food for sixty days. St.
Theodota appeared to the martyr every night and gave her courage. Seeing that
hunger caused St. Anastasia no harm, the judge sentenced her to drowning along
with other prisoners. Among them was Eutychianus, who was condemned for his
Christian faith.
The prisoners were put into a boat which went
out into the open sea. The soldiers bored holes in the boat and got into a
galley. St. Theodota appeared to the captives and steered the ship to shore.
When they reached dry land, 120 men believed in Christ and were baptized by
Sts. Anastasia and Eutychianus. All were captured and received a martyr’s
crown.
St. Anastasia was stretched between four pillars
and burned alive. A certain pious woman named Apollinaria buried her body,
which was unharmed by the fire, in the garden outside her house.
In the fifth century, the relics of St.
Anastasia were transferred to Constantinople, where a church was built and
dedicated to her. Later, her head and one hand were transferred to the
Monastery of St. Anastasia near Mount Athos.
Source: http://www.antiochian.org/node/17101
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