By Fr. George Dorbarakis
The holy and most valiant martyr Anastasia lived in the time of the emperor Diocletian, in the city of the Romans. She was the daughter of a certain pagan named Praetextatus, and her mother was called Fausta. Her mother brought her to Chrysogonos, a God-inspired and devout man, from whom she was instructed in the sacred letters, while she learned faith in Christ from her mother. She was married to a pagan man, Publius, with whom, however, she did not wish to have marital relations, always feigning some illness on her part because of his unbelief. She dressed simply and poorly and, with the help of only one maidservant who accompanied her, visited women who were in need. Secretly she also ministered to the martyrs of Christ, entering the prisons where they were held, loosening their bonds, anointing them with oil, cleansing their wounds, and bringing them the suitable food they required.
When her husband learned what she was doing, he at first placed her under surveillance. But when he drowned during one of his journeys at sea amid a violent storm, she found the opportunity, now free, to distribute all her property to the poor. Without any compulsion she continued to serve the athletes of Christ, to gather their relics after their martyrdom, and to bury them reverently. She guided and strengthened many toward martyrdom for Christ. And when the time came for her also to be examined by various governors, she confessed her faith; whereupon they cast her into the sea together with other women. Finally, after binding her to stakes and placing her in the fire, she received the crown of martyrdom.
It does not escape the notice of the Holy Hymnographer Joseph that the memory of the Holy Great Martyr falls only a few days before the metropolis of feasts, the Nativity of our Lord (“The forefeast celebration of the incarnation of Christ our God shone forth together with the feast of the martyr Anastasia”). And although there is no historical or practical connection between these two feasts, he is constantly concerned to link them; for this reason, the first hymns of each ode for the Saint are in honor of the coming of the Lord.
In the Exapostelarion of the service, however, toward the end of Matins, in his pre-festal reference to Christmas, he proceeds to make the connection on a symbolic and noetic level: the memory of Saint Anastasia functions as a proclamation of the Nativity, as a guiding star for the Magi from Persia and for the simple shepherds, since she offered, in place of gold and frankincense and myrrh, her very self to the Master Christ.
“Your light-bearing memory, martyr Anastasia, proclaims the Virgin Birth of Christ, as it summons to Bethlehem the Magi from Persia with their gifts, and the Shepherds together with the angels for hymnody. For you, O divinely-minded one, by your martyrdom offered to your Master, as gold and frankincense and myrrh, your very self.”
The Saint’s total offering to Christ, proof of her love for Him, also enabled her to acquire His power. Her Hymnographer likens her to a sword that shattered the entire power of the demons.
"You have strengthened your resolve through the love of God, O truly great-named martyr, and thus you appeared like a sword, cutting down the ranks of demons, with faith in God."
This omnipotence, moreover, due to the presence of Christ within her being, Saint Joseph also brings out through her very name: the Saint images the Resurrection of Christ, because just as His Resurrection crushed the devil, so too the Saint powerfully crushed the hostile demons.
“By your name you image the Resurrection of Christ, all-praised one, since you shattered the invisible enemies.”
It is therefore no accident that the Saint offers her Christ-given power to every believer who approaches her in faith and calls upon her (“And now, by the grace of God, you relieve every pain, all-praised one, from our souls and bodies, we who honor your struggles and virtues”). Indeed, the Holy Hymnographer also uses her name in this sense: as resurrection through her prayers even for our falls into sin (“Having the same name as the Resurrection of the Lord, raise me up also now, fallen as I am in sin, through your intercessions”), since, of course, beforehand the same — her very name — worked regeneratively for her as well (“You acquired the appellation of the Resurrection of Christ, and therefore you followed a way of life in harmony with your name”).
Saint Anastasia’s readiness to soothe the wounds we suffer from sin and the devil is justified by the special gift God had given her: to minister to the martyrs and, in particular, to tend their wounds. We are certain that just as she then hastened to care for those wounds, so now — perhaps even more — she hastens to us as well. This gift of hers now operates immeasurably increased and far more effectively. It is enough, of course, that we recognize sin as a wound in our soul and approach the Lord in repentance.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
