Saint Anastasia of Sirmium

Saint Anastasia (died 25 December 304 AD) is a Christian saint and martyr who died at Sirmium in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda (modern Serbia). In the Eastern Orthodox Church, she is venerated as St. Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, i.e. "Deliverer from Potions" (Ἁγία Ἀναστασία ἡ Φαρμακολύτρια). This epithet is also translated as "One who Cures (Wounds)" in Lampe's A Patristic Greek Lexicon. Concerning Anastasia, little is reliably known, save that she died in the persecutions of Diocletian; most stories about her date from several centuries after her death and make her variously a Roman or Sirmian native and a Roman citizen of patrician rank. One legend makes her the daughter of a certain Praetextatus and the pupil of Saint Chrysogonus. Catholic tradition states that her mother was St. Fausta of Sirmium. Anastasia has long been venerated as a healer and exorcist. She is one of seven virgins and martyrs who, along with Blessed Virgin Mary, are commemorated by name in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Before the liturgical reforms of the twentieth century, this martyr enjoyed the distinction, unique in the Roman liturgy, of having a special commemoration in the second Mass on Christmas Day. This daytime Mass was originally celebrated not in honour of Christ's birth but rather in commemorating this martyr, and towards the end of the 5th century, her name was also inserted in the Roman Canon. A "Passio" not earlier than the 6th century, gives a legendary account that makes Anastasia a Roman without claiming that she suffered martyrdom in Rome. The same legend connects her name with that of St. Chrysogonus, put to death in Aquileia, though the San Crisogono church in Rome is dedicated to him. The legend makes Anastasia the daughter of Praetextatus, a Roman vir illustris, and affirms that she had Chrysogonus as a teacher. Early in the persecution of Diocletian, the Emperor summoned Chrysogonus to Aquileia where he suffered martyrdom.