CHRYSANTHUS AND DARIA

Saints Chrysanthus and Daria suffered during the reign of the Roman emperor Numerian (283–284). They are Roman martyrs, one of those whose lives, some 40 narratives, were written down long after the end of persecution to renew their veneration, or to assist believers in their pilgrimage to shrines. The names of saints are often invoked in prayers for the blessing of marriages. Such patronage, that is, the special intercession of the saints for marriage blessings, is very important in our times.

According to the life, Chrysanthus was an official from Alexandria. While on business in Rome, he was converted to faith in Christ through a meeting with a presbyter named Carpophorus, who gave him Christian Scriptures to read. Usually, the Scriptures were kept separately. Evidence of this practice is the Small Entrance in Orthodox worship, when the Gospel is brought to the altar and brought into the altar. In ancient times it was kept in a separate secret place. Therefore, the act of the presbyter Carpophorus, who gave Chrysanthus the Holy Books to read, was daring. The name “Carpophorus” is translated as “fruitful”, “bearing fruit”. Perhaps, not wanting to divulge the name of the one who did this, the community, or Chrysanthus himself, chose to replace his name with a pseudonym, a figurative name with a symbol.

Chrysanthus’s father, a pagan, tried to turn his son away from the faith by various means, including through female communication. So Chrysanthus met Daria, who was a vestal virgin, that is, a priestess of the hearth of the goddess Vesta. As a result of communication with Chrysanthus, she also turned to Christ. Together Chrysanthus and Daria began to preach to those around them, for which they were arrested and tortured. As a result, for their steadfastness in faith, the martyrs were buried alive.

Thanks to the preaching of Chrysanthus and Daria, many others came to Christ. Some of them were also destined to suffer for their faith. The names of Claudius, Hilaria, Jason and Maurus are mentioned in liturgical calendars. According to the life, Claudius was an official who was supposed to subject the saints to torture but refused to do so. Ilaria was his wife, Jason and Maurus were his sons. They all believed together thanks to Chrysanthus and Daria. There is no doubt that they can also be considered patrons of marriages.

The Eucharist at the tombs of martyrs on their birthdays was the most important liturgical tradition of the early Church. Outside access to these meetings was closed. Moreover, the burial places instilled fear in the pagans, who came up with all sorts of slander at Christian meetings near the relics of the martyrs. Once, on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Chrysanthus and Daria, local Christians commemorated them. Angry pagans walled up the exit from the cave where they had gathered. Among the martyrs who suffered then, the names of Presbyter Diodorus and Deacon Marianus have reached us.

Saints Chrysanthus and Daria are among those saints of the Ancient Church whose special veneration began centuries after their death. In 537, the tombs of the martyrs were destroyed by the Goths. The latter were then besieging Rome and, apparently, were looking for jewelry in ancient burial places. It is paradoxical that by that time Chrysanthus and Daria were in oblivion. Thus, the unexpected profanation of the shrine served as a reason for glorification. The tomb of the saints was restored and decorated, and Pope Vigilius (537–555) dedicated an epigram to the saints.

A kind of chapel was erected above the resting place of the martyrs, through the window of which pilgrims could see their relics. This is mentioned by the historian of the Ancient Church, Saint Gregory of Tours (538–594). Other pilgrimage evidence from that time has also survived. Thus, the veneration of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria began to acquire a certain universality. Evidence of this was their depiction in the famous mosaics of the Basilica of St. Apollinaris in Ravenna.

Later, the Roman Bishop Paul I (757–767) transferred the relics of the martyrs from the place of their suffering to the Church of St. Sylvester. The part of the relics remaining in the catacombs was placed in the Basilica of St. Prassede under Pope Paschal I (817–824), and in the Lateran Basilica under Stephen V (885–891). From there, in 884, a particle of the relics was transferred to one of the monasteries in Germany. The Italian cities of Reggio Emilia, Brindisi, Naples, Salzburg and Vienna in Austria also once acquired particles of their relics. The saints were revered as patrons of many cities, very distant from each other.

In the Russian Church, Chrysanthus and Daria was dedicated to the gate church in the Ipatiev Monastery, which was especially associated with the Romanov Dynasty. Such is the amazing interweaving of the destinies of saints, shrines, and events in history.

The lives of the martyrs are very extensive. There is a detailed debate about faith between Chrysanthus and Daria, where a Christian and a pagan exchange deep philosophical and theological arguments. Moreover, the word “theology” is very appropriate here. Indeed, in the terminology of that time, theology often meant reasoning about pagan deities. Theology or theology in our sense was then usually called “sacred doctrine.”

The Life of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, this literary monument of a later era, is a separate, very competent work. It is an attempt to restore the events of a much earlier time, and at the same time, to reveal for pilgrims to Roman churches and catacombs the essence of the feat and the names of the saints. The life is rich in many details; reading it enriches knowledge and represents a kind of excursion through the era. This is a kind of fragment of historical sociology. After all, many customs of that time, including judicial and administrative ones, remained intact for centuries.

At the same time, the specific information provided by the Life requires special exegesis, that is, commentary and interpretation.

Thus, legend calls Saints Chrysanthus and Daria spouses, but at the same time insists that they decided to live in virginity. “However, even if you marry, you will not sin; and if the girl marries, she will not sin. But such will have tribulations according to the flesh; but I feel sorry for you,” wrote the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 7:28). These words, normative for the Christian attitude to marriage, were undoubtedly known to Chrysanthus. After all, he came to faith precisely through reading the Scriptures. Abstinence, virginity or celibacy, exclusively preached, according to Paul’s advice, was practiced by the early Christians. Abstinence, virginity or celibacy, solely for the sake of having more time, freedom and energy for preaching, according to Paul’s advice, was practiced by the early Christians.

Before her conversion, Daria was a Vestal Virgin. According to information that has reached us, the Vestals were supposed to remain celibate for 30 years, after which they could return to normal life. Therefore, marriage with a vestal virgin was considered a curse. The situation into which Chrysanthus and Daria voluntarily placed themselves appears to be both an astonishing compromise and a paradox.

By getting married, Daria subordinated herself to her husband, and therefore could devote herself to preaching together with him. At the same time, while maintaining chastity, she henceforth did this not for reasons of “career asceticism,” as was the case among the pagans, and as, unfortunately, this would be the case in later times in the Church. From now on, she devoted herself not to Rome and its deities, but to the One Lord Jesus, in whom she believed.

At the same time, it is obvious that, having decided to preach about Christ within Roman society openly and jointly, the spouses Chrysanthus and Daria foresaw quick consequences. Just as for the first Christians the Second Coming of Christ was imminent and inevitable, for Chrysanthus and Daria the onset of their birthday, as martyrdom was then called, was just about to come and inevitable. Thus, they themselves voluntarily and expectedly crossed the threshold of chronology and entered the messianic time.

“I tell you, brethren, the time is short, so that those who have wives must be as if they had not,” wrote Paul (1 Cor. 7:29). In this sense, the message of the life that the saints were buried alive in the catacombs becomes stunningly clear. By their voluntary commitment to martyrdom, the saints, unlike all other mortals, no longer needed death. They were introduced to the resurrection through a whole and complete displacement of the customs and ideas of the “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).