Orthodox · 3rd century
Virginmartyr Anysia at Thessalonica
Commemorated: January 12 (December 30, Old Style)
Life
Anysia was a young Christian of Thessalonica, the orphaned daughter of a rich and noble family. In 304, when the governor Dulcitius was trying to stop the Christians from meeting, she set out for their assembly. At the gate of Cassandra a soldier of the guard stopped her and asked where she was going. She answered that she was a servant of Christ going to the Lord’s assembly.
He said he would take her to sacrifice instead, since that day the pagans honored the sun, and he tore off her veil. When she resisted, he ran her through with his sword. Her name is in the Greek calendars and in the Roman Martyrology on 30 December.
Places
- Place of birth: Thessaloniki
- Place of death: Thessaloniki
Retold briefly in our own words from: Butler’s Lives of the Saints; the Roman Martyrology (1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.