Anastasia the Patrician

Saint Anastasia the Patrician, born in the Byzantine Empire and flourishing in the sixth century, lived first amid the splendor and peril of the imperial court at Constantinople. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Theodora, and when jealousy and unwanted attention threatened her peace, Anastasia chose the safer path of humility. She fled to Alexandria in Egypt and, near the city at Pempton, founded a monastery where she embraced strict monastic discipline, supporting herself by weaving cloth. After Theodora’s death in 548, Emperor Justinian sought to summon Anastasia back, but she refused and instead sought counsel in the desert from Abba Daniel of Scetis. For her protection, Daniel arranged for her to live hidden in a solitary cell far from Scetis, where she remained in prayerful seclusion for twenty-eight years, receiving only simple provisions and weekly visits. Sensing her end in 576, she summoned Daniel, received Holy Communion, and surrendered her life to God. She is venerated for her courage, purity of heart, and steadfast renunciation of worldly power, and is honored as patron of Borgorose. Her feast day is March 10.