<p>St. Anastasia appears in the Roman Canon and has been venerated at Rome since the late 5^th Century.&nbsp; One would think that these facts would indicate a celebrity martyr whose life we knew many facts about.&nbsp; Unfortunately, we know very little about St. Anastasia.</p> <p>What we do know about this woman is that she was born to Roman nobility and married a pagan; however, St. Anastasia was converted by her tutor and advisor, St. Chrysogonus.&nbsp; Living at the end of the 3^th Century and beginning of the 4^th, St. Anastasia found herself at the high-water mark of the Diocletian persecutions.&nbsp; During this time St. Anastasia cared for the confessors of the faith who were in prisons and hospitals.&nbsp; This lasted until she was forbidden by her husband to continue this work of mercy.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the meantime, St. Anastasia&rsquo;s husband was dispatched to the Far East in service of Rome.&nbsp; During this campaign he was killed, leaving St. Anastasia free and unbounded.&nbsp; She went to Aquileia (where St. Chrysogonus had taken refuge) and continued her work with caring for the persecuted Faithful.&nbsp; It wasn&rsquo;t long before she, herself, was brought up on charges and arrested for her Faith.&nbsp;</p> <p>Legend has it that she and many other Christians and pagan prisoners were put on a boat and left in the middle of the sea to die.&nbsp; However, the Roman authorities&rsquo; plans severely backfired when the Christians aboard organized and managed to navigate the ship back to shore.&nbsp; It is said that the entire company of pagans converted.&nbsp; Yet St. Anastasia&rsquo;s life was not spared.&nbsp; When the rotting-in-a-boat routine did not work, the Romans commenced a violent bloodbath, torturing over 270 men and women, including St. Anastasia.&nbsp; The Roman methods were horrendous and barbaric.&nbsp; St. Anastasia was staked to the ground with her arms and legs outstretched while fires were ignited in a ring around her.&nbsp; She was slowly burned alive.&nbsp; This massacre occurred upon the island of Palmaria around 304.&nbsp; Her feast occurs on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) and she is commemorated during the second Mass on Christmas Day.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Practical Take-Away:</strong> <em>The Counsel of the Saints &amp; Spiritual Direction</em></p> <p>But for her time with St. Chrysogonus, St. Anastasia likely would have been a pagan.&nbsp; That meant not only would she not have been a saint, but very likely would have foregone the many good deeds she carried out by caring for the poor.&nbsp; Indeed, as a pagan, she likely would have participated in the slaughters.&nbsp; As human beings we all have an extraordinary potential to be great saints, but also great sinners.&nbsp; To keep ourselves honest, we must first begin by being honest with ourselves.&nbsp; We are not perfect.&nbsp; We need help.&nbsp; We can&rsquo;t do this alone.&nbsp; Just as St. Anastasia was advised by a holy man, we would be well-advised to seek meaningful spiritual direction for our lives.&nbsp; Perhaps we, too, will be converted and deeply moved.&nbsp; Perhaps we, too, will use the fruits of our spiritual direction to become saints.</p>