Memorial Day of St. Anastasia Patrika

Every year on March 23, the Orthodox community celebrates the day of remembrance of St Anastasia Patricia, who voluntarily left worldly life for the sake of serving God The holy ascetic lived in Constantinople and had aristocratic roots The pious girl was an example of goodness for most people and enjoyed special respect from the ruler of the Empire, Justinian An attractive and well-educated woman was a real decoration of the imperial palace Having lost her husband as a girl, she managed to maintain her piety Somehow, for no particular reason, the empress became jealous of her husband towards Anastasia She had to leave the house and hide She left the city in secret Her final destination was Alexandria Near the settlement, the lady opened a tiny monastery, where she spent days reading prayers, asking the Lord to forgive her sins A few years later, disaster struck the house of Emperor Justinian - his beloved wife died After the funeral, the ruler went in search of Anastasia to take her as his wife When Anastasia found out about this, she immediately went to a distant monastery to see Father Daniel for support To help the novice, he put a man’s cassock on her, calling her Anastasius the eunuch After this, the elder settled the ascetic in one of the most distant caves, giving her a word of prayer and a covenant: under no circumstances should she leave the cave and not allow anyone to come to her Only one monk knew this place He had to come to the cave every week to leave a loaf of bread and water at its entrance Anastasia had to spend a little less than 30 years in such a strict seclusion People were sure that a eunuch lived in the cave, and they never went there One day God appeared to the blessed woman and named the day of her death Having learned about his imminent death, she scratched a few words on a shard and placed it near the cave After some time, Daniel found the message and brought everything necessary for the funeral ceremony He found the saint already in a dying state, after which he read a confession and asked Anastasia to bless him and the assistant who came with him The saint fulfilled the request, after which she died quietly When the burial place was ready, Daniel handed over the cassock to his assistant, ordering him to dress the deceased While putting on his clothes, the monk saw that what was lying in front of him was not a man, but a woman However, the young man was afraid to talk about what he saw After Anastasia’s funeral, on the way to his monastery, the young man asked the abbot if he knew that the deceased eunuch was actually a woman Then Daniel told the student the story of the ascetic In the future, the Abba's confession was recorded and became very popular The relics of Anastasia were transferred to her homeland in Constantinople and placed near the temple named after Hagia Sophia