Saint Anastasius

After having spoken for some time of this pious desire, he finally left the army of Chosroes, and renouncing his family and his country, he retired to the city of Hierapolis, in Syria, to the home of a Persian goldsmith or moneyer who was a Christian. He learned his trade and worked for some time with him; but his main purpose, or rather his only desire, was to learn what he must do to make himself worthy of the grace of baptism. He therefore begged his host to instruct him. The latter, fearing to expose himself to the cruelty of the Persians who were masters of the country if he were seen preaching Christianity, contented himself with taking Magundat with him to the church of the holy Martyrs.

The paintings with which this place was adorned struck Magundat's eyes vividly; he asked their meaning, and learned that they represented the cruelty of tyrants and the patience of Christians; he admired within himself the superhuman heroism of these glorious victims of the Gospel. The desire to embrace the Christian religion made him leave soon after for Jerusalem, where he again lodged with a moneyer, a zealous Christian, who, when he learned of his desire for baptism, took him to a holy priest named Elias. The latter, having received Magundat into the rank of catechumens, went to present him to Modestus, who was then governing the Church of Jerusalem as vicar general during the absence of Patriarch Zacharias, a prisoner of the Persians.

Magundat received baptism with other Persians, and changed his nam Anastase Martyr companion of Saint Marcellus. e to that of *Anastasius*, which is Greek, and whose etymology implied that he had *passed* from death to life. The good priest Elias kept him for eight days in his house, dressed in the white garment, as the newly baptized were to wear during the Octave of their baptism; he exhorted him incessantly to persevere in these holy resolutions. Finally, he asked him what kind of life he wished to embrace. Anastasius begged him to *ordain* him a monk. Elias therefore had him take off the white garment and took him to the monastery o f Saint Ana abbé Justin Successor of Bassus, a violent governor who ordered the execution of the martyrs. stasius, where Abbot Justin received him under his discipline. He was given as a master a religious of consummate prudence, who first taught him the Greek language and the psalter; after which he received the tonsure and the religious habit.

He spent seven years in this monastery, applying himself to the lowliest offices. He was so diligent that he still found enough time, after attending the divine offices and fulfilling the duties of his charge, to apply himself to the reading of good books, particularly those that treated of the lives of the holy Fathers of the desert and the combats of the Martyrs. And thus his initial inclination to imitate them was strengthened more and more in his heart; so that he asked for nothing with more ardor in his prayers than the grace to suffer martyrdom.

God, who seconds the desire of his elect when it pleases Him, was willing to give him pledges and, as it were, a foretaste of this grace. For, one night while he was sleeping, he dreamed that he was at the top of a mountain where a man presented him with a golden cup, enameled with precious stones and filled with excellent wine, saying these words to him: *Take and drink*. When he had done so, his soul was penetrated with such sweetness that, waking at that very instant, he recognized that God, by His mercy, had granted his prayers concerning the martyrdom he desired with such passion.

In the morning, which was the feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord, he communicated his dream, or rather his vision, to his spiritual father; and after having attended the entire divine office and received communion with the other brothers, he took leave of the company, and departed from the monastery without taking anything other than his habit; the Holy Spirit, who was his guide, led him to Caesarea in Palestine. Having entered this city, he remained for two days in prayer in the church of the holy Virgin; then he attached himself to that of Saint Euphemia, martyr. But one day when he went there to continue his devotions, he noticed some people who were engaging in the operations of magic. He gave them a gentle remonstrance on this subject, telling them that he too had had the misfortune of practicing this criminal art and begging them to renounce it as he had; he thus drew attention to himself, he made himself suspect, and they treated him as a spy. An officer of the garrison arrested him, kept him in prison for three days wit hout givi Barzabane Persian governor of Caesarea who ordered the arrest of Anastasius. ng him anything to drink or eat, and led him before Barzabane, governor of the province for the Persians, who had just arrived in Caesarea. Anastasius openly declared himself a Christian, and remained unmoved by the most magnificent promises as well as by the most horrible threats. The irritated governor ordered that one of his feet and his neck be attached with a heavy chain, that he be bound to another prisoner, and that he be condemned to carry stones in this state. The Persians, and especially those of the province of Rasech, his compatriots, heaped a thousand insults upon him: they tore his clothes, pulled out his beard, overwhelmed him with blows, and loaded him with enormous burdens, like a wretch who was, they said, the disgrace of their country.

Some time later, Barzabane had him appear a second time in his presence and told him that he was asking him for the last time if he wished to return to the religion of his fathers or remain in Christian superstitions, and that he would write his answer to King Chosroes to receive his orders. "Write to him whatever evil you wish on my account," replied Anastasius, "for I am a Christian." "Let him be stretched out," said the governor then, "and let him be struck until he answers that he is ready to obey." As the executioners prepared to bind him, this servant of God said to them: "Leave it, I have no need of bonds." And he placed himself calmly in the position in which they wanted to put him while chaining him. They then began to strike him with heavy blows of a stick. The Saint said to them: "Let me take off my habit, so that it may not be profaned. You may strike my bare flesh, for what you are doing there is but a game to me. Even if you were to dissect me limb by limb, I will not deny my Jesus."

Barzabane having again threatened him with writing to the king: "Do it," said the Martyr, "write to the king." "What then!" replied the governor, "do you not fear the king?" The Saint answered: "Why should I fear your king? Is he not a man like you? Will he not die like you? Will he not rot like you? Whom should I fear, this corruptible object, your equal, a bit of mud, or Jesus Christ who created heaven and earth?"

The governor, astonished at the martyr's freedom, had him taken back to the dungeon. A few days later, in another interrogation, he pressed him again to sacrifice to the gods of Persia: "To which gods must one sacrifice?" said Anastasius. "To the sun, to the moon, to the fire? Why not also to the mountains, to the hills, and to all the rest? God forbids me to regard as gods my servants, and to adore the creatures that He made for my use." Barzabane, more and more offended by these speeches, sent our Saint back to prison, with the threat of having him put to death as soon as he had received the king's answer. In the meantime, the confessor of Jesus Christ was condemned to carry stones throughout the day. He increased his own sufferings; for, refusing his body a large part of the rest he needed, he prayed, he recited the divine offices that were performed in his monastery; but he took great care not to move his chain, so as not to disturb the sleep of the prisoner with whom he was attached. He received great consolations such as God reserves for those who suffer for Him. Abbot Justin, informed of all that his disciple was enduring for the cause of Jesus Christ, ordered prayers in the community, and sent two monks to assist him. Heaven also visited him: one of Anastasius's companions saw him one night all radiant with light in the midst of a choir of angels who were praying with him, and he showed this beautiful spectacle to the other prisoners.

Barzabane, after the interrogations we have spoken of, finding Anastasius invincible, had written to Chosroes. He received a reply from him after a few days. Then, having his prisoner brought in, he said to him: "This is what the king commands me: Abjure Christianity only with your lips, and I will set you free. Then go where you wish; if you want to be a monk, be one; if you prefer to become a magus again as you were, as we are, do so." The martyr of Christ replied: "It will never happen that I deny my Jesus." He was tempted again with all sorts of promises, but in vain. Finally, the governor had him told: "I know that you fear your compatriots and that you do not dare to deny Christ before them, but the king is satisfied if you make this abjuration before me and only two other people, and you are free immediately." The Saint replied: "It will never happen that I deny my Jesus, neither before you nor before others."

Barzabane, seeing him unshakeable, declared to him that he had orders to send him to the king in chains. "These chains are useless," said Anastasius; "if you were to set me free, I would go to the king of my own accord." The governor gave the order to have him leave in five days with two other Christian prisoners. During the preparations for the journey, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross arrived, which was celebrated on September 14. Anastasius, the two religious sent by Justin to console him, the two Christians who were to follow him to Chosroes, and some pious men of Caesarea, spent that night singing hymns and psalms, forgetting the sufferings of prison to think only of the praises of the Lord. In the morning, the merchant or tax collector, who was a Christian, obtained from the governor the freedom to take Anastasius to the church to celebrate this great feast, with the promise to bring him back to his prison afterwards; for it must be noted that the Persians did not prevent the exercise of the Christian religion in the places of their conquest where they had found it established. They only held a grudge against those of their own country who left the religion of their fathers to become Christians, viewing this conversion as an outrage to their gods and as an affront that fell upon the whole nation.

The presence of the Saint in the assembly of the faithful was a subject of universal joy: it revived the piety, courage, and faith almost extinguished in many who had let themselves be cast down by the prosperity and success of the Persian armies, by the desolation of the holy city of Jerusalem, and the captivity of a great number of Christians. He consoled them all, strengthened them by the example of his sufferings and by his words. One could not get enough of seeing him; they kissed his chains with respect. After the assembly, the merchant, by dint of prayers and almost by force, took Anastasius to his home with the two religious who accompanied him; they dined there in great company, after which they returned to the prison.

Five days later, our Saint left for Persia, under heavy guard, with the two other Christian prisoners; and one of the two religious from his monastery received from Abbot Justin the order to follow him everywhere, and it is he who wrote, or at least dictated, the Acts of the martyrdom of Anastasius, as an eyewitness. In all the places where the confessor of Jesus Christ passed, the Christians crowded around him to express their respect and admiration, to the point that these honors alarmed his humility. He wrote from the city of Hierapolis and from the banks of the Tigris to his abbot, asking for his prayers and those of the community so that God might grant him the grace to finish his career humbly and courageously.

As soon as he arrived in Balsaloë, a small town in Assyria, two and Balsaloë Small town in Assyria, site of the final execution. a half leagues from Discarthes, near the Euphrates, where the King of the Persians was then, he was put in prison while awaiting special orders. Chosroes, after a few days, sent a magistrate to interrogate him. He replied as always "that he was a Christian, that his God had created heaven and earth; if Jesus had died on the cross, it had been voluntarily to redeem us and destroy the empire of the demons who reigned among the Persians." The judge sought to dazzle him with promises, promising him the king's favor and one of the first places at his court. "I consider the gifts of your king as mud," replied the Saint. The next day, the judge used threats. "Lord," the martyr said to him with tranquility, "it is useless for you to torment yourself so. Jesus, my God, sustains me: you will never succeed in making me abandon my faith." Then the judge had him chained and beaten with sticks, saying: "This is what you will have every day instead of the honors you refuse. — I will be as insensitive to your blows as to your favors," replied Anastasius; "do what you will." He received the bastinado three days in a row. The judge then had him laid on his back and ordered that a large piece of wood be placed on his legs, made even heavier by two men mounted on the two ends. This torture was considered unbearable. Anastasius endured it with calm, giving thanks to God. The judge, no longer knowing what to do, sent him back to prison and went himself to tell the king what had happened and to receive his orders. During this time, the jailer, who was a Christian, let in the religious who had followed our Saint and who came to console him and exhort him to goodness. Many of the faithful who were in that city also ran to the prison and, prostrating themselves at the feet of the Martyr, kissed his chains, conjuring him to pray for them and to bless them. And as he refused, they took wax, pressed it against his chains so that they would be imprinted on it, and carried away this holy imprint as a blessing.

The judge, having returned, interrogated our holy Martyr for several more days, and each time he had him beaten cruelly. By his order, he was hung by one hand, after having a large stone attached to his foot. He remained in this state for about two hours. Seeing him unshakeable, the judge had him taken down and went again to consult the king.

He returned, after five days, with the order to put Anastasius and the other Christian prisoners to death, seventy-two in all. They were led to the bank of the river, and all were strangled in the presence of Anastasius, to whom the executioners said, at the death of each one: "Do you wish to die in this way, or do you prefer to obey the king and keep the sweet light of day and a thousand honors?" But the holy martyr, raising his eyes to heaven, gave thanks to God that his desires were about to be satisfied, and said: "I hoped that my body would be torn by you into a thousand pieces for the love of Jesus Christ. But if this is the death you prepare for me, I thank God that He is going, through such small pains, to associate me with the glory of the holy Martyrs." And thus, with great joy and ineffable gladness, he underwent the same kind of death as his companions. He was distinguished from the others only by having his head cut off after being strangled, on January 22 of the year 628, the eighteenth of the empire of Heraclius.

God distinguished him in a much more remarkable way: during the night, the dogs that devoured the bodies of the other martyrs left his intact; so that the religious of whom we have spoken, and some other Christians among the captives of Palestine, were able to redeem it from the executioners; they carried it to the monastery of Saint Sergius, which was not far away, and from which the name Sergiopolis came to the small town of Barsaloe. Others say that these holy relics were all carried to Caesarea in Palestine, and it is recounted, in the fourth session of the Second Co uncil of Nicaea, that w second concile de Nicée Seventh ecumenical council that restored the veneration of icons. hen this translation took place, the whole city went out in procession to receive with respect such a precious treasure. A woman named Areta, one of the first of the city, was alone reckless enough not to take part in this pomp, saying that she would not trouble herself for the Relics of Persia. But she was soon forced to change her resolution. This Saint appearing to her at night, dressed in his religious habit, rebuked her severely for her impiety, and at the same time she was seized with violent pains and lost her speech. She was advised to commend herself to the holy Martyr to recover her health; she took this course, and had herself carried to his sepulcher, recognized him by his true image which was near his relics and which appeared to her similar to her vision, and she was entirely healed. These holy relics were then carried to Constantinople where the Empress Irene later had a church built in their honor.

Finally, the acts of the Seventh Ecumenical Council inform us that at the time it was held, Rome already possessed the image and the head of Saint Anastasius, and that they performed miracles. The council even uses this example to authorize the veneration of images. It recognizes in the same place, as authentic, the original acts of his martyrdom. These precious relics were deposited in a church of the Blessed Virgin called ad aquas Salvias, near the Capena Gate. It has since changed its name and is called today the church of Saints Vincent and Anastasius.

In his images, his beheading is represented; but it is distinguished from that of Saint John the Baptist in that the head bears a notch on the skull or a monk's hood.