Memorial Day of Saint Anastasia the Pattern Maker

On January 4, the Christian world celebrates the feast day of Saint Anastasia, who is also known as the martyr Anastasia the Pattern Maker, Anastasia of Sirmium after her place of death, and Anastasia Pharmacolytria Unfortunately, no reliable historical sources about her deeds have survived We only have at our disposal a life that was written in the 6th century, that is, two centuries after her death In later sources, the biography of the holy great martyr is often mixed with facts from the biography of her namesakes - Anastasia the Elder and Anastasia the Younger, who lived in the 1st and 3rd centuries, respectively Anastasia accepted martyrdom, and after some time she was canonized and elevated to the ranks of saints It is known for certain that she lived at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th century According to some sources, Anastasia died in the city of Sirmium, which is now called Sremska Mitrovica and is located on the territory of modern Serbia At that time, the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian was ending This ruler managed to lead his state out of crisis, strengthened the status of the emperor and, in an attempt to restore Rome to its former greatness, organized the persecution of Christians, which became the bloodiest in the entire history of the Roman Empire Diocletian, long before the adoption of the decisive edict, together with the other three tetrarchs, began to get rid of Christians in his own environment and in the army Diocletian's intolerance led to a series of cruel tortures and harsh executions On his orders, the soldiers forced Christians to turn away from their faith, recognize the pagan gods and take part in sacrifices - the highest acts of their veneration Many refused, for which they were tortured, starved, and kept in prison The life of people exhausted by injuries, illnesses, and malnutrition turned into real torture One of Anastasia’s nicknames is Pharmacolytria From Greek it can be translated as “liberating with the help of a potion/drug” According to the only life, Anastasia was born in the Roman Empire into a fairly wealthy family Her father was a senator, and her mother secretly professed Christianity, in which she decided to raise her daughter Anastasia was a student of Chrysogonus of Aquileia, who suffered martyrdom for the faith in the same year as the saint herself During Diocletian's persecution, hundreds of prisoners languished in prisons The young woman bribed the guards, dressed in beggar clothes and secretly made her way into the dungeons If we recall the “liberating potion,” we can assume that Anastasia relieved the pain of those suffering with the help of medicinal herbs, but she did not limit herself to this The woman washed them, fed them, bandaged their wounds and tried to comfort those who needed it most According to one version, Anastasia’s husband was the pagan Pomplius, a cruel and despotic man When he found out about the secret visits to the dungeons, he beat his wife, locked her at home and even assigned guards to her Anastasia lost the opportunity to help her fellow believers She wrote letters to her teacher, who at that time had already been taken into custody and was languishing in captivity for two years According to some reports, Pomplius was eager to get his wife’s large inheritance, so he tortured her to bring her to death After the death of her senator father, Anastasia became the sole heir to his fortune The woman told the teacher about her suffering, but one day he predicted the death of Pomplius Soon he was assigned to the king of Persia, boarded a ship and died during a storm at sea When her teacher was killed, Anastasia decided to go on a journey to help Christians along the way She was able to pass through Macedonia and Greece, but was captured in Sirmium, where she was condemned to death and burned alive at the stake In Rus', Anastasia became the patroness of women in labor, which was due to the not entirely correct interpretation of her nickname “The Pattern Maker” In Russian, “permission from bonds” or “permission from burden” meant the process of childbirth On this day, married women embroidered towels, which later became their amulets during pregnancy They also turned to the martyr with prayers for intercession