MARTYRS ANASTASIA AND BASILISSA

On April 28, the Church celebrates the memory of the holy martyrs Anastasia and Basilissa. They were disciples of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Under Nero (54-68), they were captured by pagans who demanded that they renounce their Christian faith. When they refused, the executioners tore out their tongues and cut off their legs. Such monstrous cruelty on the part of the Romans towards two defenseless saints was apparently due to the fact that the virgins buried Christian martyrs, instilling in pagans a fear of fearless and constant contact with death in the belief in the coming Resurrection. The Greek name “Anastasia” itself translates as “Resurrection.” The kontakion to the holy martyrs, sung in the fourth tone, says: “We who celebrate the memory of Christ’s Virgin Martyrs Anastasia and Basilissa now pray with help for their help, that we may be delivered from every affliction, crying out: God, Who willed to glorify them, is with us”.

This was a time when the first Christians lived in expectation of the imminent and inevitable Return – the Second Coming of Jesus. Therefore, not only biographical information about the holy martyrs, but also about the Apostles themselves has not been preserved, not because of a lack of time, but because the early Christians believed that there was no need for it. Perhaps the only exception is the Book of Acts, in which, insistently pointing out that God will prolong the existence of this world, information about the Apostles, unfortunately, far from all of them, was preserved by the Holy Spirit Himself.