Anastasios of Epirus and Daniel of the Ishmaelites

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE GLORIOUS NEW MARTYR OF EPIRUS
SAINT ANASTASIOS
TOGETHER WITH THE NARRATION ABOUT DANIEL OF THE ISHMAELITES

Commemorated on November 18


THE HOLY NEW MARTYR ANASTASIOS

TROPARION, TONE 4

THOU DIDST manfully put the error of the impious to shame+ by the shedding of thy blood for Christ God+ and by thy labors in contest.+ Wherefore, as thou hast received the incorruptible crown,+ intercede with the Lord,+ O Martyr Anastasios,+ that we may be delivered from times of peril.


ANASTASIOS, THE NEW MARTYR of Christ and triumphant athlete of piety, was from Paramythia of Epirus. On a certain day he went with other Christians to the fields, having with him his sister, in order to harvest. It happened on that day that the son of the ruler of the place, being a Moslem, Mousa by name, was passing through with other Hagarenes, having been sent by his father on a certain errand. The impious Hagarenes with lustful eyes seeing the sister of Anastasios, who was beautiful and comely, rushed upon her in order to fulfill their beastly desires. But Anastasios, being quick, put up a fight and gave his sister time to flee.

The Hagarenes having been insulted by this (for with Anastasios there ran the other Christians that were there also and hindered the Moslems, heaping insults upon them), slandered Anastasios, upon whom fell all their fury, to the Pasha. The Pasha in turn having been angered sent soldiers and brought the innocent Anastasios bound, from whom he learned the whole truth. But seeing him young and handsome as well as brave, he wished by whatever way he could, either by flattery and promises, or by threats and tortures, to bring him to Islam. Among other things, the accusers of the athlete said to the ruler that he had supposedly said that he would deny his faith.

Hearing this, Anastasios with great outspokenness and daring and spiritual valor said, "Never did I utter such a thing. I was born a Christian and I shall die a Christian with the help of my Christ. As for the good things which you promise me, I do not care in the least, for I have many good things which are eternal, laid up for me in the heavens, the which cannot be compared with the present." When the blessed Martyr was being questioned there stood by his Moslem slanderers who said to him, "Are you not he who promised then to become a Moslem? Why do you now deny this and do not wish to fulfill what you said?" Anastasios answered, "Neither did I ever say such a word, nor did I ever think such a thing, nor do I deny my holy faith, for which I am ready to die. All the accusations are slanders and false. I was born a Christian and a Christian shall I die." These things did the Martyr say, and by command of the Pasha he was beaten and thrown into prison.

After a few days there came for a visit to the Pasha one of his friends, who upon hearing about Anastasios, counseled the Pasha what to do, saying, "These Christians are very tough and obstinate and they do not let go of their faith even if one should apply to them the most frightful of tortures, for even death itself they prefer most eagerly for their faith. If, therefore, you wish to convert this youth, do not torture him any more; rather, take him out of the prison and with a kind manner promise him gifts and riches and other favors and in this way mayhap you will be able to convince him." Having heard these things, the Pasha took the Martyr out of prison and began to flatter him and to promise him a multitude of earthly goods. In the end he promised him that he would have him as his own genuine son, if he would listen to him. The above-mentioned friend of the Pasha also aided the cause of the Moslems, adding that he had a most beautiful and good daughter whom he would give as a wife to the Martyr, also promising horses and gold pieces and many other things, if he would only consent to become a Moslem.

The courageous athlete of Christ heard all these vain babblings with horror and disgust and aversion, and with boldness he answered, "I have good things in the heavens, not like your kind, but rather without compare better, more precious, and unending. Therefore, in order not to lose those everlasting good things, I in no way accept your corruptible and empty goods. As for my Faith, I will not deny it under any conditions; may it never be!" Having been left speechless by the Martyr's confession of faith, the Hagarenes put him again in prison in order to think what they would do next.

Seeing and hearing these things, Mousa, the son of the Pasha, having a good volition, pondered most prudently and sensibly upon all the above and began to ask himself, saying, "What then is this faith of the Christians, for which not only all the goods of this world do they reckon as nought, but even every kind of suffering and painful death do they endure on its behalf? Behold this man, even though he is poor, yet he did not choose to gain all the things offered him, which even I who am quite rich did desire, in order not to lose his faith. What then is this faith which the Christians keep with such strictness?"

Wishing to be enlightened, therefore, and to receive clear answers, he succeeded in entering the prison secretly in order to speak with Anastasios. God, on the other hand, seeing the good intention of the youth, showed him the following wonder, in order to fire his salutary desire further. When the guard of the prison opened the gate for him and he entered, lo, he beheld two shining youths standing near Anastasios whose wondrous brightness was so great that he fell upon his face, being wholly filled with fear. After the Saint made a sign to the shining youths to depart a little, Mousa came closer, and first he asked after them who they were, and learning that they were Angels, the guardians of Christians, he asked again if the Moslems also have such guardians, and why the Christians disdain all the goods of this earth and are not frightened by torments and punishments and death.

To these questions the Martyr answered thus: "All of us Christians have one of these (that is, Angels), who guards us as long as we are in this world, and when we die, he receives our soul and takes it to Paradise; you on your part and the other nations have one for every nation. As to why I disdained the goods offered me by your father, this I did because we have riches in the heavens and everlasting goods which cannot be described, such as if one attempted to compare all the goods and riches of this world they would be found to be nothing but shadows and emptiness." Hearing these things, and having been assured in his soul by the action of Divine grace, the youth fell at the feet of Anastasios and begged him to make him a Christian. The Martyr said to him, "This which you say is not possible at the present time, because should your father ever find out such a thing, he will annihilate all the Christians. For the present believe secretly in the Master Christ and beseech Him to deem you worthy of your desire, and most assuredly the prace of the Lord shall bring to pass all that is to your profit." Having said these things to Mousa, the Martyr showed him how to make the sign of the Cross and then dismissed him in peace.

The accursed father of the God-minded Mousa, taking Anastasios out of the prison, and seeing that neither by violence nor by flattery was he able to convince him to renounce his faith, gave command and they beheaded the Martyr outside the city close by the Monastery that is found there. The sacred body of the blessed and triumphant Martyr remained in that place where he was beheaded because the tyrannical Pasha had threatened lest any Christian dare to come near and take it for burial. During this time the pious would see a light which came down from above and would rest upon the sacred relics of the Martyr. In this way God glorified the right-victorious athlete who at a young and flourishing age died courageously for His love. But at night the Martyr appeared to the Pasha in a dream and ordered him with threats to give his relics to the Monastery that was nearby. The Pasha having been terrified by this, sent word to the monks and they came with lighted candles and incense and received the holy relics with the honor and reverence that was due them, and having brought them to the Monastery they buried them. After some time when the holy relics were exhumed, they were found to emit an ineffable fragrance and were placed in a case and kept in the sanctuary.

AFTER THE GLORIOUS martyrdom of St. Anastasios, Mousa the son of the Pasha became very sad and gloomy, and bringing to mind all that he had seen and heard close to the Martyr, he began to detest and avoid everything-glories, honors, pleasures and all the other joyous things of the world. Night and day he besought God to have mercy on him and deem him worthy of His grace, and his prayer was answered through the entreaties and intercession of Saint Anastasios in this manner.

At that time the father of Mousa was invited to a wedding by his sister who lived in another region, and he sent Mousa in his stead. Mousa, finding the right time before he departed, went to the grave of the Saint, and falling upon it prayed with tears until the beginning of the midnight service and orthros, at which time he fell into a light sleep, and he saw Anastasios dressed in luminous clothes saying to him, "Do not grieve, brother, but go where you are sent and you shall receive that which you desire." Mousa, having been gladdened by this, departed according to the wish of his father for the wedding, not attending in the least to the vain and corruptible things of this world, but rather being attentive and mentally alert, awaiting the Divine grace which the Lord was quick to send in the following wondrous manner.

While he was sleeping in the appointed room after the wedding, there appeared to him a shining youth saying, "Arise and follow me." Arising barefooted as he was, he followed him who appeared and, behold, the doors of the house opened automatically before them while all were sleeping, and going out together they walked some distance. Coming upon a fountain of water, they found an ascetic resting there and they sat down. Then the shining youth, who was an Angel of the Lord Pantocrator, delivering Mousa to the ascetic said, "Follow after him and he shall guide you to that which you desire." Having said these things to Mousa, the Angel disappeared, whereas Mousa, following after the Elder, reached the Peloponnesos. Finding a certain church in a deserted place, they worshipped there. But the youth by this time had become weak from the labor of the journey and privations, for on the way he was fed insufficiently, eating wild greens and such, and he was in great anxiety. He also was very despondent and downcast, for the enemy began to war against him with the remembrance of his parents and the other delightful and enjoyable things which he had abandoned who now was suffering from total deprivation. Seeing the urgency of the situation, the Elder told him to enter the church again and to pray. Having reverenced the icon of the Theotokos, he heard a voice coming forth from the icon saying, "Do not grieve, child, for the transient goods which you left behind, for My Son and God suffered many things for the salvation of men. Rather rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for you shall be deemed worthy of many good things in the Kingdom of the Heavens." He likewise heard a voice from the icon of Christ saying the same thing. Mousa, being filled with immeasurable joy from this, forgot all his suffering and hardships and was delivered from the satanic assaults which had besieged him mentally. He then asked the Elder if the Holy Icons always spoke. The Elder answered, "Not always, child, but when there is a need."

Continuing their journey for a few days more, they arrived at Patras, and finding a ship for Venice, the Elder put Mousa on it and sent him to the Orthodox Christians that were there with letters of introduction, giving him also a small miracle-working icon of the Most Holy Mother of God. Reaching Venice, Mousa was received by the Christians and was baptized by them, being given the name Demetrios. After some time, upon hearing about Saint Spyridon, he departed for Corfu, where he entered one of the Koinobic Monasteries and became a monk, being named Daniel. Wishing to be martyred for the Lord, he departed for Constantinople, where there was revealed to him in a marvelous vision the future liberation of the Christians from the Turkish yoke, which he put in writing. But the Greeks who were there hindered him from martyrdom in order that there would not follow disturbances from this and persecution against the Christians, whereupon he was forced to return to Corfu.

The desire for martyrdom, however, did not leave him in peace, and he came to Lacedemonia (Mani), with the intent to go to Constantinople again, but here he remained a little time, and he met and conversed with a certain pious Christian, who narrated everything as he heard it from the mouth of Daniel himself. He also saw in the hands of Daniel the icon of the Theotokos which the Elder-ascetic had given him when he sent him to Venice, and which the Christians had covered with silver. It was to this same brother that Daniel said that he had the longer martyrdom of St. Anastasios with the questions and answers. Elsewhere it is written that from Constantinople Daniel "returned to Corfu and fell asleep in the Lord, having first built a church to the Theotokos, which to this day is called Myrtia, where there is found the martyrdom of St. Anastasios and the vision of Daniel written in his own hand." St. Anastasios was beheaded on the 18th of November in the year 1750. Amen.