St. Anastasius of Antioch, Martyr with Sts. Julian and Basilissa

Who was St. Anastasius of Antioch?

St. Anastasius of Antioch is one of the companions of the martyr St. Julian, the husband of St. Basilissa. He was not born a Christian. According to the acts of these martyrs, he was a pagan who had died and was being carried to his grave when Julian, himself a prisoner on his way to torture, prayed over him and he came back to life. He was baptized, took the name Anastasius, "the one raised up," and soon gave his new life back to God as a martyr. We keep his feast on January 9.

He should not be confused with the three patriarchs of Antioch named Anastasius, who lived in the sixth and seventh centuries, nor with St. Anastasius the Persian.

What the Roman Martyrology says

Almost everything we know about him is in a single entry of the Roman Martyrology for January 9:

At Antioch, in the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, the birthday of the Saints Julian, martyr, and Basilissa, his virgin wife. Having lived in a state of virginity with her husband, she reached the end of her days in peace. But after the death by fire of a multitude of priests and ministers of the Church of Christ, who had taken refuge in his house from the severity of the persecution, Julian was ordered by the president Marcian to be tormented in many ways and executed. With him suffered Anthony, a priest, and Anastasius, whom Julian raised from the dead, and made partaker of the grace of Christ; also, Celsus, a boy, with his mother Marcionilla, seven brothers, and many others.

In the martyrology, "birthday" means the day of a martyr's death, the day of birth into heaven.

Julian, Basilissa and their house of charity

To understand Anastasius we have to meet the man who brought him to Christ. Alban Butler, following the acts, tells us that Julian and Basilissa were a married couple who by mutual consent lived in perfect chastity and gave their wealth to the poor and sick. They turned their home into a kind of hospital, Basilissa caring for the women and Julian for the men. Basilissa died in peace after enduring persecution. Julian outlived her and was arrested when the persecution struck their city.

The raising of Anastasius

The Orthodox life, kept by the Orthodox Church in America, gives the outline of the story. Julian's courage under torture converted Celsus, the young son of the governor Marcian, and then Celsus's mother Marcionilla. Julian also raised a dead pagan to life, and that man too believed. The converts were baptized by the priest Anthony, "the pagan was named Anastasius (i.e. 'Resurrected')." All of them were later beheaded for Christ, along with soldiers and other companions.

• Traditional: the raising of the dead man through St. Julian's prayer. It comes from acts of the martyrs that Butler himself treats with caution ("if we may credit their acts"). The deaths of Julian and his companions for the faith are not in doubt; the details of the story are legend.

Whatever the details, the name tells the heart of it. Anastasius means "resurrection" in Greek. The man who had been raised from death in the body was raised again, in baptism, to the life of grace, and then went to meet the risen Christ as a martyr.

Antioch or Antinoe?

The old Latin acts and the Roman Martyrology place these martyrs at Antioch, which is why he is called Anastasius of Antioch. Butler was doubtful. The menology published by Canisius placed the martyrdom at Antinopolis in Egypt, and some ancient manuscripts of the martyrology bearing St. Jerome's name read "Antinous." Butler concluded that a copyist had misread the abbreviation as Antioch, "a name better known." The Orthodox Church also says Julian was born in the Egyptian city of Antinoe. The Latin acts tried to have it both ways, speaking of "Antioch in Egypt," a city Butler notes never existed.

Butler dated their deaths to around 313, under Maximin, while the martyrology speaks of Diocletian and Maximian. Either way, Anastasius died in the last great Roman persecution, early in the fourth century.

Symbols of St. Anastasius in art

Anastasius almost never appears alone. When he is shown, it is among the companions of Julian and Basilissa, with:

• A martyr's palm: his death for Christ.
• A sword: the beheading of Julian's companions.
• A shroud or bier: the story of his raising from the dead.

Pompeo Batoni's painting of about 1736, now in the J. Paul Getty Museum, gathers the family of martyrs under the risen Christ. Seventeenth-century calendars of the saints, like the German edition of Pedro de Ribadeneira's lives, show Julian and Basilissa together with sword and palm.

Prayer to St. Anastasius

There is no traditional prayer to St. Anastasius of Antioch. Let us ask him, who was raised once from death and then gave his life for the One who raised him, to pray for the newly baptized, for those far from God whom we love, and for all of us, that we may live as people already risen with Christ. See also St. Julian of Antioch, a different martyr with a similar name, and the feast day calendar.