Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Wednesday Oct 29/Nov 11 ns/2026 • Holy Martyr Anastasía of Rome, Sts. Abrámios and Mary ~ Fast day ~ I Thess. 4:1-12; St. Luke 11:9-13

ANASTSIA was born in Rome of noble parents, and was left an orphan at the age of three. As an orphan, she was taken to a convent near Rome where the abbess was Sophia, a nun of the highest level of perfection. After seventeen years, Anastasia was well known-among the Christians as a great ascetic, and among the pagans as a rare beauty.

Probus, the pagan governor, heard of Anastasia and sent his soldiers to bring her to him. For two hours, the good Abbess Sophia counseled Anastasia how to keep the Faith, how to resist flattering deceits, and how to endure torture. Anastasia said to her:

"My heart is ready to suffer for Christ; my soul is ready to die for my Sweet Jesus.'' Brought before the governor, Anastasia openly expressed her faith in Christ the Lord, and when the governor tried to turn her away from the Faith-first by promises and then by threats-the martyr said to him: "I am ready to die for my Lord not only once, but-oh, if it were only possible-a hundred times!'' When they stripped her naked to humiliate her, she cried out to the servants: "Whip me, cut me up and tear me apart, cover my naked body with wounds and cover my shame with blood!'' She was beaten, torn and cut up. On two occasions she felt a great thirst and asked for water, and a Christian, Cyril, gave her a drink, for which he was blessed by the martyr of Christ and beheaded by the pagans.

Anastasia's breasts and tongue were severed, but an angel of God appeared and sustained her. Finally, she was beheaded outside the city. Blessed Sophia found her body and buried it honorably.

Anastasia was crowned with the wreath of martyrdom during the reign of Decius.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 KJV

4 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;

5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.

7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.

9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;

11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;

12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.

Saint Luke 11:9-13 KJV

9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

St. Basil the Great:

On Giving Thanks to the Creator

As thou takest thy seat at table, pray. As thou liftest the loaf, offer thanks to the Giver. When thou sustainest thy bodily weakness with wine, remember Him Who supplies thee with this gift, to make thy heart glad and to comfort thy infirmity. Has thy need for taking food passed away? Let not the thought of thy Benefactor pass away too. As thou art putting on thy tunic, thank the Giver of it. As thou wrappest thy cloak about thee, feel yet greater love to God, Who alike in summer and in winter has given us coverings convenient for us, at once to preserve our life, and to cover what is unseemly. Is the day done? Give thanks to Him Who has given us the sun for our daily work, and has provided for us a fire to light up the night, and to serve the rest of the needs of life. Let night give the other occasion of prayer. When thou lookest up to heaven and gazest at the beauty of the stars, pray to the Lord of the visible world; pray to God the Arch-artificer of the universe, Who in wisdom hath made them all. When thou seest all nature sunk in sleep, then again worship Him Who gives us even against our wills release from the continuous strain of toil, and by a short refreshment restores us once again to the vigour of our strength. Let not night herself be all, as it were, the special and peculiar property of sleep. Let not half thy life be useless through the senselessness of slumber. Divide the time of night between sleep and prayer. Nay, let thy slumbers be themselves experiences in piety; for it is only natural that our sleeping dreams should be for the most part echoes of the anxieties of the day. As have been our conduct and pursuits, so will inevitably be our dreams. Thus wilt thought pray without ceasing; if thought prayest not only in words, but unitest thyself to God through all the course of life and so thy life be made one ceaseless and uninterrupted prayer.”

Saint Theophylact's

Homily On Todays Gospel

St Luke 11:9. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Observe the precision of His words. He did not say, ‘ask once,’ and it shall be given, but ‘keep asking,’ that is, seek continuously.

St Luke 11:10. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ‘Everyone who asks receives.’ But does one who asks for what is useless also receive? No. For, first, a request for something useless cannot truly be called a request before God. For he who prays to God must ask for that which God gives. But if someone asks for what is harmful, he does not make a prayer to God, for God does not give that which is harmful.

St Luke 11:13. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Then listen to how even the Lord Himself teaches us what we ought to ask. He says: the son asks for ‘bread,’ ‘fish,’ and ‘egg.’ Just as these make up a person’s food, so must our requests be beneficial and serve us for salvation. The one asking for ‘bread’ is, perhaps, anyone asking that faith in the Trinity and soundness in the dogmas be revealed to him. For these, as that which establishes the heart, are bread. He who asks for ‘fish’ is one who, swimming in the sea of this life, asks God for help to remain alive like a fish and not be drowned amid temptations. The one who asks for an ‘egg’ desires that there be born within him virtuous souls, which—having taken wing, rising in spirit and soaring above the earth—may rightly be likened to birds.

~ V I G N E T T E S ~

Please note:

ABOUT HOMILIES
If, especially prior to prayers, we read, contemplate and reflect on the God-given guidance found in the testimony of the saints in homilies, we will find not only crucial clarity in scripture but also clarity of our spiritual status in our journey from transient darkness to the Eternal Light of the Holy Trinity.

The Ascetical Homilies and Vignette portions of the PARAGON will no longer be linked/archived to PARADISE NOW since one need only scroll down for past posts which include homilies and vignettes.