Venerable (Monastic)6th century

Saint Anastasia the Patrician of Alexandria

d. 6th century (traditionally c. 567–576)

Also known as Anastasia the Patrician

A noblewoman of Constantinople in the reign of Justinian, Anastasia withdrew from the imperial court to escape worldly entanglement and the emperor's attentions. She lived in seclusion near Alexandria, eventually disguising herself as a monk and spending her remaining years in a desert cell.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Mother Anastasia the Patrician, of Alexandria

Life

Saint Anastasia the Patrician was a sixth-century Byzantine noblewoman of Constantinople who abandoned a place of high standing at the imperial court during the reign of the Emperor Justinian (527–565) to take up the monastic life near Alexandria in Egypt.

According to her tradition she withdrew to escape entanglement in court affairs and the emperor's attentions, settling in seclusion outside Alexandria and supporting herself by manual labor before retiring still deeper into the desert.

Under the direction of the elder Abba Daniel of Scetis she was clothed in male monastic garb and passed the remainder of her life—some twenty-eight years by the tradition—as a hermit in a remote cell, her identity as a woman unknown to the surrounding community until her death.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide

KontakionTone 2

(Podoben: “Having received the grace...“) Because of your love of God you forsook a bed for rest, O Mother Anastasia,
you illumined your soul with fasting, thoroughly vanquishing your enemies;
but by your intercessions destroy the evil designs of our adversaries.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 8

In you the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother,
for taking up your cross, you followed after Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away,
but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal.
Therefore, most venerable Mother Anastasia your spirit rejoices with the Angels.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline5 momentsReadHide

527–565Reign of JustinianAnastasia, a patrician of Constantinople, holds a place of high standing at the imperial court during the reign of the Emperor Justinian.
548Death of TheodoraBy the Wikipedia account, following the death of the Empress Theodora the emperor seeks to recall Anastasia to the capital; she refuses and withdraws to Scetis.
6th centuryTonsure under Abba DanielAt Scetis, Abba Daniel clothes her in male monastic garb—by tradition as the 'eunuch Anastasius'—and settles her in a remote cell.
c. 567–576ReposeAfter about twenty-eight years as a hermit, she makes her death known on a potsherd; Daniel gives her communion before she reposes, and the attending monk discovers she was a woman.
1200Translation of relicsHer relics are recorded as having been translated to Constantinople.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

From the Imperial Court

Anastasia belonged to an aristocratic family of Constantinople and held the rank of patrician, moving in the highest circles of the court during the reign of Justinian. The recensions of her life differ on the precise circumstances of her departure: one tradition records that she served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Theodora and that the emperor's interest in her provoked the empress's jealousy, so that to escape the dangers of court Anastasia left for Alexandria. Another, preserved in the OCA synaxarion, relates that she was widowed young, and that the likewise-widowed Justinian intended to marry her, prompting her to leave the capital secretly for a life apart from worldly affairs.

In both accounts she made her way to Alexandria, where she established a small monastery not far from the city—placed by one tradition at Pempton—and devoted herself entirely to God, living under monastic discipline and supporting herself by weaving cloth.

Life as a Desert Hermit

When the emperor sought to recall her to Constantinople—after the death of the Empress Theodora in 548, by the Wikipedia account—Anastasia withdrew further, seeking refuge at Scetis, where she came under the guidance of Abba Daniel, the elder of the monastery. To shield her from unwanted attention, Daniel permitted an extraordinary arrangement: he clothed her in a man's monastic habit and, by tradition, gave her the name of the eunuch Anastasius, placing her in a remote cave with strict instruction never to leave it and to receive no one. Only a single appointed monk knew her true location, and the wider community believed a male eunuch dwelt in the cell.

For about twenty-eight years she lived in this seclusion. Daniel is said to have visited regularly—weekly, by one account—and arranged for a disciple to bring her water. As she approached death she made her end known by a message inscribed on an ostracon, a fragment of broken pottery, which by tradition bore the words 'Bring the spades and come here.' Daniel, recognizing the signal, came to give her communion and receive her final words before she reposed. Only in preparing her body for burial did the attending monk discover that the hermit had been a woman.

Repose and Relics

The traditions place her repose in the later sixth century—around 567–568 by the OCA account, or in 576 by the Wikipedia account. Her relics are recorded as having been translated to Constantinople in the year 1200.

Her story is preserved through the accounts associated with Daniel of Scetis and, in the Coptic tradition, through the Copto-Arabic Synaxarion.

Companions1 figureShowHide

Spiritual father: the elder of Sketis who clothed Anastasia in male monastic garb as the 'eunuch Anastasius' and guided her hidden hermit life until her death.

Venerable Danielof Sketis

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints