HOLY BISHOP ATHANASIUS AND MARTYR ANFISA

“To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless,” says the longest of the psalms in the Septuagint translation (118:96). The Fathers of the Church saw in these words an indication of the possibility of astonishing diversity in the correct fulfillment of the same commandment. Saint Athanasius of Tarsus fulfilled Christ’s commandment to “lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:11) “peaceably,” through the preaching of the Gospel.

1 The name “Athanasius” means immortal. It is therefore not surprising that it was very popular among Christians, who not only believed in the eternity of the soul, as pagans also believed, but also expected a general “resurrection of the flesh,” as the Apostles’ Creed so realistically states. One of the ancient saints named with such a hope of immortality was the martyr Athanasius of Tarsus. The Church celebrates his memory on September 4. This saint was bishop of the city of Tarsus and suffered for Christ under Emperor Aurelian (270-275). The martyrdom of Saint Athanasius was prompted by the baptism of Anthousa, a young virgin of very wealthy origin from Seleucia.

2 Anthousa was a pagan, but she saw in a vision a man of God whom she was destined to meet. Later, her parents spoke among themselves of a Christian preacher who had converted many people to Christ and, above all, supported his preaching with numerous miracles and healings. Struck by this coincidence of vision and gossip, of the supernatural and of the everyday, Anthouse set out in search of the evangelist. Having found him, she asked him for guidance in the faith. Saint Athanasius baptized her and the bodyguards who accompanied her, named Neophytos and Charisimos.

3 The brief description of the life of Saint Athanasius, of which we know nothing beyond this episode, is an example of the fulfillment of Jesus’ commandment in the Gospel: “Greater love has no one than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:11). He could have preached among the people for a long time. The pagan police knew that the corporation of pagan priests and the ignorance of the masses would sooner or later turn against Christian preachers, and therefore often did not intervene in their activities. But the baptism of a nobleman in this case meant the inevitable death of the Christian bishop. The pagan authorities then reacted quickly and aggressively. They saw the conversion of noble and famous people to Christianity as a major challenge. The testimony of these converts was considerable. It is no coincidence that the Church called martyrs of royal and very noble origin “great martyrs.” Athanasius made his choice.

4 Almost simultaneously with Saint Anthouse, and apparently in the same region, another saint of the same name, Anthousa, suffered for Christ. Hiding her noble origins, she dressed in coarse and shabby clothes, thus creating one of the prototypes of Christ’s future madness, which, this sacred prophetic madness, would become the asceticism of many saints in the future Church. Tortured along with her twelve servants, she was placed in a well where she died. Tradition calls her Anthousa the Younger, or the New. She is commemorated on September 9. Precisely in relation to her, Saint Anthousa, baptized by Athanasius, is called “Anthusa the Great,” or Anthouse of Seleucia. The Greek name “Anthousa” translates as “flowery” and, in the modern transcription, Anfisa, was very popular in the last century in Russia and the Soviet Union.

5 Athanasius was subjected to the most brutal tortures, with rods and a rack, and then beheaded. Like a small nesting doll within a large one, or a modern postmodern novel, a brief history of her long suffering has been preserved in the life of Saint Anthousa. As if in gratitude for her conversion and baptism, the saint bestowed upon Athanasius, immortal in name and martyrdom, the “literary” immortality of hagiography and ecclesiastical veneration. However, Anthousa’s life is so similar to that of another famous saint of the time, the martyr Pelagia, that it is difficult to know which of the two could have served as a model for the other.

6 The mother of the great Church Father, John Chrysostom, venerated as a saint in modern Orthodox piety, was named in honor of Saint Anthousa. One image depicts the mother of Basil of Caesarea Emmelia, the mother of Gregory the Theologian Nonna, the mother of Saint Augustine Monica, and the mother of John Chrysostom Anthousa in the same icon. The memory of Saint Athanasius of Tarsus, of Anthousa of Seleucia and of the martyrs Charissimos and Neophytos is celebrated together on the same day. These are examples of the communion of saints in life and in death, in the memory of the Church and beyond history.