Anastasia Şaguna (1785–1836) was the mother of the Holy Hierarch Andrei Şaguna, one of the most illustrious figures of Romanian Orthodoxy.
Born in 1785, she received a select education from her parents, in the spirit of fear of God, honor and steadfastness in the ancestral faith.
She married young, and at the age of 18 she became a mother, giving birth to Evreta, the brother of the later Metropolitan, followed by a little girl, Ecaterina, in 1806 and the infant Anastasios (the future Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna) on December 20, 1808, in Miscolts.
Anastasia's life took a dramatic turn when her husband, Naum Şaguna, for material reasons and forced by circumstances, converted to Catholicism. This choice generated an intense internal and external struggle for Anastasia, who decided to defend her faith and, above all, the souls of her children with all her might. Convinced that the holiest religion was the one in which her parents and ancestors worshipped, Anastasia chose to fight for her little ones to remain Orthodox.
Helped by her father, Mihail, she fought a fierce battle against the authorities and Catholic representatives, especially against the Catholic Archbishop of Miskolc. With great courage, she refused to give in to the pressure and managed to hide her children in the house of her uncle, the merchant Atanasie Grabovski from Pest. There, in the Orthodox environment of the Greek school and the “Greek-Wallachian” church, the children were able to be formed in the spirit of the Orthodox faith. Anastasia sent memoranda to the authorities in Pest, explaining her approach and insistently requesting that the little ones not be taken over by the Catholic authorities.
Despite all her efforts, the authorities forced her to move with the children to Miskolc and raise them under Catholic tutelage, but Anastasia managed to maintain a profound influence on them. She offered them Orthodox education at home, took them to the Romanian church in the city, and instilled in them, day after day, a love for God and for ancestral traditions. This profound education, based on sacrifice and prayer, had a decisive impact on her son Anastasios.
Born in 1785, she received a select education from her parents, in the spirit of fear of God, honor and steadfastness in the ancestral faith.
She married young, and at the age of 18 she became a mother, giving birth to Evreta, the brother of the later Metropolitan, followed by a little girl, Ecaterina, in 1806 and the infant Anastasios (the future Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna) on December 20, 1808, in Miscolts.
Anastasia's life took a dramatic turn when her husband, Naum Şaguna, for material reasons and forced by circumstances, converted to Catholicism. This choice generated an intense internal and external struggle for Anastasia, who decided to defend her faith and, above all, the souls of her children with all her might. Convinced that the holiest religion was the one in which her parents and ancestors worshipped, Anastasia chose to fight for her little ones to remain Orthodox.
Helped by her father, Mihail, she fought a fierce battle against the authorities and Catholic representatives, especially against the Catholic Archbishop of Miskolc. With great courage, she refused to give in to the pressure and managed to hide her children in the house of her uncle, the merchant Atanasie Grabovski from Pest. There, in the Orthodox environment of the Greek school and the “Greek-Wallachian” church, the children were able to be formed in the spirit of the Orthodox faith. Anastasia sent memoranda to the authorities in Pest, explaining her approach and insistently requesting that the little ones not be taken over by the Catholic authorities.
Despite all her efforts, the authorities forced her to move with the children to Miskolc and raise them under Catholic tutelage, but Anastasia managed to maintain a profound influence on them. She offered them Orthodox education at home, took them to the Romanian church in the city, and instilled in them, day after day, a love for God and for ancestral traditions. This profound education, based on sacrifice and prayer, had a decisive impact on her son Anastasios.
In 1816, Anastasia went to Vienna to ask for the emperor's support in this fight to defend the faith of her children. Although she was unable to meet him in person, her unceasing efforts were proof of maternal devotion and rare spiritual courage. Even after the authorities issued the decision to place the children in the care of the Catholic archbishop, Anastasia remained with them and continued to form them in the Orthodox faith.
Her sacrificial deeds did not go unanswered. Later, all of her children, educated at first in Catholic schools, declared upon reaching adulthood that they wished to return to the bosom of the Orthodox Church. The public event of December 29, 1826, when Andrei Şaguna officially expressed his desire to return to Orthodoxy, was considered by historian Ioan Lupaș as important as the day of her birth.
Anastasia Şaguna passed away in January 1836, at the age of 51, and was buried on January 17 in the Kerepesi cemetery in Pest, in the Grabovski family crypt. Her son, who became Metropolitan, erected a stone cross with the inscription:
"To his beloved mother Anastasia, to his esteemed brother Vreta, and to his sweet sister Ecaterina. This monument was erected by Andrei Şaguna, Bishop of Transylvania, 1849."
Anastasia Şaguna's life remains a model of a Christian mother, a fighter for the faith, a courageous woman who, in the most difficult moments, did not renounce the values she believed in. Through her love and sacrifice, she contributed decisively to the formation of one of the greatest hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
She was canonized as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in its meeting of July 1, 2025, with the title "Saint Anastasia Şaguna, mother of the Holy Hierarch Andrei Şaguna" and the feast day is December 1.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
Her sacrificial deeds did not go unanswered. Later, all of her children, educated at first in Catholic schools, declared upon reaching adulthood that they wished to return to the bosom of the Orthodox Church. The public event of December 29, 1826, when Andrei Şaguna officially expressed his desire to return to Orthodoxy, was considered by historian Ioan Lupaș as important as the day of her birth.
Anastasia Şaguna passed away in January 1836, at the age of 51, and was buried on January 17 in the Kerepesi cemetery in Pest, in the Grabovski family crypt. Her son, who became Metropolitan, erected a stone cross with the inscription:
"To his beloved mother Anastasia, to his esteemed brother Vreta, and to his sweet sister Ecaterina. This monument was erected by Andrei Şaguna, Bishop of Transylvania, 1849."
Anastasia Şaguna's life remains a model of a Christian mother, a fighter for the faith, a courageous woman who, in the most difficult moments, did not renounce the values she believed in. Through her love and sacrifice, she contributed decisively to the formation of one of the greatest hierarchs of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
She was canonized as a saint by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church in its meeting of July 1, 2025, with the title "Saint Anastasia Şaguna, mother of the Holy Hierarch Andrei Şaguna" and the feast day is December 1.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
