December 22

Saint Anastasia of Sirmium was born in Sirmium in Pannonia Secunda (in today’s Serbia), though later traditions also remember her as a Roman noblewoman formed in the faith amid a divided household. What can be known with confidence is simple and luminous: during the fierce persecutions under Emperor Diocletian, Anastasia chose Christ without compromise and was martyred at Sirmium around the year 304. From the earliest centuries, Christians revered her as a powerful intercessor for healing and deliverance. In the East she is lovingly invoked as Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, the “Deliverer from Potions,” and also as a helper against spiritual oppression. Her name was honored in the heart of the Church’s prayer, being one of the few women martyrs remembered in the Roman Canon of the Mass, and devotion to her spread widely as her relics were venerated in Constantinople and later in places such as Zadar. She is patron of Biograd na Moru, Monastero di Lanzo, Motta Sant’Anastasia, Tissi, Villasanta, and Zadar. Her feast day is December 22.