The Monk Martyr Anastasius the Persian was the son of a Persian
sorcerer named Bavi. As a pagan, he had the name Magundates and served
in the armies of the Persian emperor Chozroes II, who in 614 ravaged the
city of Jerusalem and carried away the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord
to Persia.
Great miracles occurred from the Cross of the Lord, and
the Persians were astonished. The heart of young Magundates was
inflamed with the desire to learn more about this sacred object. Asking
everyone about the Holy Cross, the youth learned that upon it the Lord
Himself was crucified for the salvation of mankind. He became acquainted
with the truths of the Christian Faith in the city of Chalcedon, where
the army of Chozroes was for a certain while. He was baptized with the
name Anastasius, and then became a monk and spent seven years in one of
the Jerusalem monasteries, living an ascetical life.
Reading the
Lives of the holy martyrs, St Anastasius was inspired with the desire to
imitate them. A mysterious dream, which he had on Great and Holy
Saturday, the day before the Resurrection of Christ, urged him to do
this.
Having fallen asleep after his daily tasks, he beheld a
radiant man giving him a golden chalice filled with wine, who said to
him, “Take this and drink.” Draining the chalice, he felt an ineffable
delight. St Anastasius then realized that this vision was his call to
martyrdom.
He went secretly from the monastery to Palestinian
Caesarea. There he was arrested for being a Christian, and was brought
to trial. The governor tried in every way to force St Anastasius to
renounce Christ, threatening him with tortures and death, and promising
him earthly honors and blessings. The saint, however, remained
unyielding. Then they subjected him to torture: they beat him with rods,
they lacerated his knees, they hung him up by the hands and tied a
heavy stone to his feet, they exhausted him with confinement, and then
wore him down with heavy work in the stone quarry with other prisoners.
Finally,
the governor summoned St Anastasius and promised him his freedom if he
would only say, “I am not a Christian.” The holy martyr replied, “I will
never deny my Lord before you or anyone else, neither openly nor even
while asleep. No one can compel me to do this while I am in my right
mind.” Then by order of the emperor Chozroes, St Anastasius was
strangled, then beheaded. After the death of Chozroes, the relics of the
Monk Martyr Anastasius were transferred to Palestine, to the Anastasius
monastery.
Source-OCA.ORG
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