Wednesday, 3 June 2015

Saint Anastasia.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



English: Saint Anastasia Cathedral, Verona, Italy.
Français: Cathédrale Saint Anastase, Vérone, Italie.
Date: 2004.
Source: Own work.
Author: © 2004 David Monniaux.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Saint Anastasia is a Christian Saint and Martyr, who died at Sirmium in the Roman Province of Pannonia Secunda (modern-day Serbia). In The Orthodox Church, she is Venerated as Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, i.e. "Deliverer from Potions" (Ἁγία Ἀναστασία ἡ Φαρμακολύτρια).

Concerning Anastasia, little is reliably known, save that she died in The Persecutions of Diocletian. Most stories about her date from several Centuries after her death and make her, variously, a Roman, or Sirmian, native, and a Roman citizen of Patrician rank. One legend makes her the daughter of a certain Praetextus and the pupil of Saint Chrysogonus. Catholic Tradition states that her mother was Saint Fausta of Sirmium.

Anastasia has long been Venerated as a healer and exorcist. Her Relics lie in the Cathedral of Saint Anastasia, in Zadar,Croatia.

She is one of seven women, who, along with The Blessed Virgin Mary, are Commemorated by name in The Canon of the Mass.



English: Modern Orthodox Christian icon of Saint Anastasia the Great-Martyr.
Русский: Святая Анастасия (Анастасия Узорешительница, Анастасия Младшая) —
Святая, христианская великомученица IV века (икона).
Source: http://www.svetigora.com/node/892
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


This Martyr enjoys the distinction, unique in The Roman Liturgy, of having a special Commemoration in The Second Mass on Christmas Day. The Day's Mass was originally Celebrated, not in honour of The Birth of Christ, but, rather, in Commemoration of this Martyr, and, towards the end of the 5th-Century A.D., her name was also inserted in The Roman Canon.

Nevertheless, she is not a Roman Saint, for she suffered Martyrdom at Sirmium, and was not Venerated at Rome until almost the end of the 5th-Century A.D. It is true that a later legend, not earlier than the 6th-Century A.D., makes Anastasia a Roman, though, even in this legend, she did not suffer Martyrdom at Rome. The same legend connects her name with that of Saint Chrysogonus, likewise not a Roman Martyr, but put to death in Aquileia, though the San Crisogono Church in Rome is Dedicated to him.



English: The Anastasia Chapel of Benediktbeuern Abbey in Bavaria, Germany.
The Anastasia Chapel is a Baroque Chapel of Benediktbeuern Abbey.
It was built between 1751 and 1753 in honour of the Martyr, Anastasia the Patrician.
Deutsch: Die Anastasiakapelle des Klosters Benediktbeuern in Bayern, Deutschland.
Die Anastasiakapelle ist eine Barockkapelle des Klosters Benediktbeuern in Benediktbeuern,
die von 1751 bis 1753 zu Ehren der heiligen Märtyrerin Anastasia errichtet wurde, um deren Reliquien einen angemessen Ort zu schaffen.
Photo: 6 March 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Schlaier.
(Wikimedia Commons)


According to this "Passio", Anastasia was the daughter of Praetextatus, a Roman vir illustris, and had Chrysogonus for a teacher. Early in The Persecution of Diocletian, the Emperor summoned Chrysogonus to Aquileia, where he suffered Martyrdom. Anastasia, having gone from Aquileia to Sirmium to visit The Faithful of that place, was beheaded on the Island of Palmaria, 25 December, and her body interred in the house of Apollonia, which had been converted into a Basilica. The whole account is purely legendary, and rests on no historical foundations. All that is certain is that a Martyr, named Anastasia, gave her life for The Faith in Sirmium, and that her Memory was kept Sacred in that Church.



Great Martyr Anastasia,
The Deliverer from Potions
(Byzantine icon,
English: Anastasia of Sirmium (icon)
Русский: Икона «Св. мц. Анастасия». Конец XIII века — первая половина XV века.
Дерево, темпера. Размер - 99 х 65,5 см. Иконография: «Св. мц. Анастасия»
Происхождение: Приобретена на территории Турецкой империи между 1898-1914 гг.
Руссским Археологическим институтом в Константинополе. С 1931 г. в Эрмитаже.
Местонахождение: Государственный ЭрмитажБиблиография: Византия, Балканы, Русь. Иконы конца XIII века - первой половины XV века: Каталог выставки к XVIII Международному конгрессу византинистов. Август-сентябрь 1991/ Государственная Третьяковская Галерея. М., 1991. Каталог № 94. С. 254.
Date: 15th-Century.
Source: http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Images/ii2384&104.htm
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The so-called Martyrologium Hieronymianum records her name on 25 December, not for Sirmium, alone, but also for Constantinople, a circumstance based on a separate story. According to Theodorus Lector, during the Patriarchate of Gennadius (458 A.D. - 471 A.D.), the body of the Martyr was transferred to Constantinople and interred in a Church which had hitherto been known as "Anastasis" (Greek: Anastasis, Resurrection); thenceforth, the Church took the name of Anastasia.

Similarly, the cultus of Saint Anastasia was introduced into Rome, from Sirmium, by means of an already existing Church. As this Church was already quite famous, it brought The Feast Day of the Saint into especial prominence. There existed in Rome from the 4th-Century A.D., at the Foot of The Palatine Hill and above The Circus Maximus, a Church which had been adorned by Pope Damasus (366 A.D. - 384 A.D.) with a large mosaic. It was known as "Titulus Anastasiae", and is mentioned as such in The Acts of The Roman Council of 499 A.D.



English: The Basilica of Saint Anastasia, The Palatine, Rome, Italy
Photo: April 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Karelj.
(Wikimedia Commons)


There is some uncertainty as to the origin of this name; either the Church owes its Foundation to, and was named after, a Roman matron, Anastasia, as in the case of several other Titular Churches of Rome (Duchesne), or it was originally an "Anastasis" Church (Dedicated to The Resurrection of Christ), such as existed already at Ravenna and Constantinople; from the word "Anastasis" came, eventually, the name "Titulus Anastasiae" (Grisar). Whatever way this happened, the Church was an especially prominent one from the 4th- to the 6th-Century, being the only Titular Church in the Centre of ancient Rome, and surrounded by the monuments of the City's pagan past.



English: Saint Gregory and Saint Ambrose (top) and Saint Anastasia and Saint Lucy (bottom).
South Door, The Jerónimos Monastery (or Hieronymites Monastery),
(Mosteiro dos Jerónimos), Lisbon, Portugal.
Português: Santos Gregório e Ambrósio (acima) e Santas Anastácia e Luzia (abaixo).
Photo: 22 January 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: José Luiz.
Attribution: © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro.
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: Interior of The Basilica of Saint Anastasia, The Palatine, Rome, Italy.
Čeština: Interiér Baziliky sv. Anastázie na Palatinu, Řím, Itálie.
Photo: April 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Karelj.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Within its jurisdiction was The Palatine, where The Imperial Court was located. Since the Veneration of the Sirmium Martyr, Anastasia, received a new impetus in Constantinople during the second half of the 5th-Century A.D., we may easily infer that the intimate contemporary relations between Old and New Rome brought about an increase in Devotion to Saint Anastasia at the Foot of The Palatine.

In all events, the insertion of her name into The Roman Canon of The Mass towards the end of the 5th-Century, shows that she then occupied a unique position among The Saints publicly venerated at Rome. Thenceforth, the Church on The Palatine is known as "Titulus Sanctae Anastasiae", and the Martyr of Sirmium became The Titular Saint of the old 4th-Century Basilica.

Evidently, because of its position as Titular Church of the District including the Imperial Dwellings on The Palatine, this Church long maintained an eminent rank among the Churches of Rome; only two Churches preceded it in honour: Saint John Lateran, the Mother-Church of Rome; and Santa Maria Maggiore.



English: Saint Anastasia of Sirmium.
Русский: Святая Анастасия (Анастасия Узорешительница,
Анастасия Младшая) — Святая, христианская великомученица IV века.
Date: Liège, Belgium; Circa 1250-1300.
Source: http://saints.bestlatin.net/gallery/anastasia_dutchms.htm
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


This ancient Sanctuary stands today quite isolated amid the ruins of Rome. The Commemoration of Saint Anastasia, in The Second Mass on Christmas Day, is the last remnant of the former prominence enjoyed by this Saint and her Church in the life of Christian Rome.

According to Tradition, Saint Donatus of Zadar brought Anastasia's Relics to Zadar from Constantinople, when he was there with the Venetian Duke Beato. They had been ordered by Charlemagne to negotiate the border between The Byzantine Empire and The Croatian territories that were under the dominion of Charlemagne's Frankish Empire.



Deutsch: Erzbischof Michael von Faulhaber als Bayerischer Feldpropst.
English: His Eminence Michael von Faulhaber (1869-1952).
Cardinal Archbishop of Munich and Freising
and Cardinal-Priest of the Basilica of Saint Anastasia, Rome, Italy.
Previously Bishop of Speyer (1911–1917).
Date: 1917.
Source: Frontbesuch in Rumänien.
Author: M. Buchberger.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Michael von Faulhaber (5 March 1869 – 12 June 1952) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal who was Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. Faulhaber was a political opponent of the Nazi government and considered Nazi ideology incompatible with Christianity; but he also rejected The Weimar Republic as rooted in treason and opposed democratic government in general, favouring a Catholic Monarchy.

Faulhaber spoke out against some Nazi policies, but publicly recognised the Nazi government as legitimate, required Catholic Clergy to remain loyal to the Nazi government, and maintained bridges between Fascism and The Church.

He Ordained Joseph Ratzinger (future Pope Benedict XVI) as a Priest in 1951, and, at his death, he was the last Cardinal appointed by Pope Benedict XV.

The Orthodox Church Venerates Saint Anastasia as a Great Martyr, usually referring to her as "Anastasia the Roman". She is often given the epithets, "Deliverer from Bonds" and "Deliverer from Potions", because her Intercessions are credited with the protection of The Faithful from poison and other harmful substances. Her Feast Day is celebrated on 22 December in The Eastern Orthodox Church Calendar. According to the Synaxarion, she was the daughter of Praepextatus (a pagan) and Fausta (a Christian).

In the 5th-Century, the Relics of Saint Anastasia were transferred to Constantinople, where a Church was built and Dedicated to her. Later, the head, and a hand, of the Great Martyr were transferred to the Monastery of Saint Anastasia, Deliverer from Potions, near Mount Athos.



The Monastery of Jerónimos, Lisbon, Portugal
(see photo of statuary depicting Saint Anastasia, above).
Photo: April 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Alvesgaspar.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Saint Anastasia.
Martyr.
Feast Day 25 December.

Second Mass at Dawn,
Christmas Day.

Station at Saint Anastasia's.
Indulgence 15 years and 15 Quarantines.


The Mass at Dawn was celebrated at Rome in the very old Church of Saint Anastasia, this Parish being the only one situated in the Centre of Rome in the Patrician Quarter. Its position at the Foot of The Palatine, where the Caesars resided, made Saint Anastasia's the Church of the great Court functionaries. For this reason, it was chosen as The Station for The Second Mass on Christmas Day.

Saint Anastasia was burnt alive at Sirmium (Mitrowitz, Yugoslavia), on 25 December, during The Diocletian Persecution at the beginning of the 4th-Century A.D. This Saint's name occurs in The Canon of The Mass (Second List).

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