Anastasia Pharmakolytria

Life events

1. Born

   Anastasia was born, according to the legendary Passio, to Praetextatus, a Roman vir illustris, and Fausta of Sirmium, described as a Christian. The account is acknowledged as unhistorical but preserves the tradition of her Roman patrician lineage.

2. Educated

   The 6th-century Passio identifies Chrysogonus, later martyred at Aquileia, as Anastasia's teacher and spiritual director. The connection is legendary and rests on no documented historical foundation.

3. Pilgrimage

   After Chrysogonus was summoned to Aquileia by Diocletian and executed there, Anastasia traveled from Aquileia to Sirmium to minister to Christians suffering under the Diocletianic persecution. The journey is attested only in the late Passio.

4. Martyred — 304

   Anastasia was executed at Sirmium, in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda, on 25 December 304 during the Diocletianic persecution. While the hagiographic details are legendary, the Wikipedia source confirms that a martyr named Anastasia died for her faith at Sirmium; the Martyrologium Hieronymianum records her name on 25 December.

5. Translated

   According to Theodorus Lector, during the patriarchate of Gennadius (458–471) Anastasia's body was transferred from Sirmium to Constantinople and interred in a church previously known as 'Anastasis' (Resurrection), which then took her name.

6. Other

   Toward the end of the 5th century, Anastasia's name was inserted into the Roman Canon of the Mass, placing her among the seven named virgins and martyrs commemorated in that prayer alongside the Blessed Virgin Mary. This insertion reflected her rising prominence in Rome, tied to the titulus Anastasiae basilica at the foot of the Palatine Hill.

7. Translated

   At some point after their arrival in Constantinople, Anastasia's relics — including her skull — were moved to the Monastery of St. Anastasia the Pharmokolitria in Chalkidiki, Greece, near Mount Athos, where they were venerated until 2012 when they were stolen and not recovered.

8. Translated — 1976

   In 1976, part of Anastasia's relics were translated from the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar, Croatia to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Demetrius in Sremska Mitrovica — the site of ancient Sirmium, Serbia — where they are kept in a reliquary before the main altar.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Her epithet Pharmakolytria (Φαρμακολύτρια) is Greek for 'Deliverer from Potions'; Lampe's Patristic Greek Lexicon also translates it as 'One who Cures (Wounds).' In Byzantine liturgical use, this extended to deliverance from any desperate evil. (likely)
• In Russian Orthodox tradition she is known as Анастасия Узорешительница (Uzoreshitelnitsa), meaning 'Deliverer from Bonds.' The Eastern Orthodox Synaxarion credits her intercessions with protection from poison and other harmful substances. (likely)
• Anastasia is one of seven virgins and martyrs commemorated by name in the Roman Canon of the Mass alongside the Blessed Virgin Mary — the only named martyr whose feast (25 December) coincides with Christmas Day. (likely)
• Before 20th-century liturgical reforms, the second Mass on Christmas Day in the Roman Rite was celebrated not primarily for Christ's birth but as a commemoration of Anastasia's martyrdom — a distinction unique to her in the Roman liturgical calendar. (likely)
• In 2012, Anastasia's relics — including her skull — were stolen from the Monastery of St. Anastasia the Pharmokolitria in Chalkidiki, Greece, near Mount Athos. They had not been recovered as of the Wikipedia source's retrieval. (likely)