ANASTASIA, SS.

Anastasia is the name of a martyr saint commemorated in the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the second Mass of Christmas. The only known fact regarding Anastasia is that during the persecution by diocletian a woman of that name suffered martyrdom at sirmium, where the faithful constructed a church in her honor. Gennadius, Patriarch of Constantinople (458–471), had her body translated to a sanctuary in the Byzantine capital. Various theories have arisen to explain her connection with Rome. In the fourth century Pope Damasus decorated a Roman basilica known under the title of "Anastasia," which apparently served the Palatine and imperial palace. Thus, the Church of Anastasia is an important Roman edifice having some connection with the emperor and the pope. Since the word "Anastasia" means Resurrection, H. grisar suggested that the church may have been built to commemorate that Christian mystery.

But P. Whitehead believes it took its name from the founder, probably the Emperor Constantine's sister, Anastasia. The name Anastasia was added to the Canon of the Mass late in the fifth century, and in the sixth century the basilica is referred to as a title church. The basilica, constructed between the Circus Maximus and the Palatine palace, seems to have originally been cruciform in style. It underwent various reconstructions and is an imposing structure with three aisles.

Feast: Dec. 25.

The Roman Martyrology cites another Anastasia, on April 15, who, with Basilissa, supposedly buried the bodies of SS. Peter and Paul and was beheaded by nero. No evidence supports the existence of Anastasia and Basilissa.

Bibliography: h. grisar, Analecta Romana 1 (Rome 1899) 595–610. l. duchesne, Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire 7 (1887) 387–413. p. b. whitehead, "The Church of S. Anastasia in Rome," American Journal of Archaeology 2d ser. 31 (1927) 405–420. r. krautheimer, Corpus basilicarum christianarum Romae (Vatican City 1937–) 1:42–61. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater (New York 1956) 2:98; 4:613–614.

[e. g. ryan]