Память святого Анастасия Синаита, патриарха Антиохийского

In the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Emperor Justinian the Great 2664, after the death of the Antiochian Patriarch Domnus the Younger 2665, Anastasius, nicknamed Sinaite, ascended the patriarchal throne, because he was taken to the bishopric from Mount Sinai. At this time, turmoil began in the Church over the ungodly speculation of some people regarding the Divine flesh of Christ, namely, that during the Savior’s stay among people, before His free suffering, His flesh did not experience suffering, did not submit to natural needs, and that our Lord Jesus Christ accepted food and drink before His suffering and resurrection in the same way as He ate when appearing to His Apostles after the resurrection 2666. This wicked wisdom originated in Constantinople. This is written in detail in the life of Saint Eutyches, Patriarch of Constantinople 2667. Emperor Justinian, seduced by the heretics, first joined this heretical thinking (but then he abandoned this heresy), who wanted to elevate this heretical teaching into a dogma of faith. As a result of this, great confusion occurred in the Church, so that the holy Patriarch Eutyches, who opposed the heresy, was deposed from the patriarchal throne. All those who hesitated, out of ignorance, whether to accept this teaching or not, awaited advice and direction from the Patriarch of Antioch Anastasius Sinaite, since Saint Anastasius was a man very knowledgeable in the Divine Scripture, steadfast in his confession of the Orthodox faith and a saint in life. The heretics made every effort to win over Saint Anastasius to their side, in the hope that if he bowed to their teaching, then all Orthodox would follow his example. For this purpose, they turned to the tsar for help, but, however, had no success, since Saint Anastasius denounced the tsar in writing of his error. He also sent his pastoral messages to all Syrian regions to the clergy and laity, teaching everyone to guard against the said heresy. In addition, in Antioch, he taught daily in the church, repeating this Apostolic instruction: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8). Having learned about all this, Emperor Justinian was angry with His Holiness Patriarch Anastasius and wanted to overthrow him from the throne, like the Patriarch of Constantinople Eutyches, but suddenly he felt the approach of his death and abandoned his intention. Dying, the king repented of heresy and wrote in his will that the holy Patriarch Eutyches be returned from captivity to his see. Thus Justinian died in repentance and was numbered among the pious kings; peace was restored in the Church again. After Justinian's death, his nephew, Justin the Younger, took over the government in 2668. At the instigation of the heretics, the latter dethroned the Antiochian Bishop of God Anastasius Sinaita, bringing unjust accusations against him. Thus, Saint Anastasius was accused, first of all, of not taking care of church money and wasting it in vain; then, as if he slandered the king, speaking about him in response to the question addressed to him: why he does not spare church property, so: “Because the world destroyer Justin would not take it away.” There were also those who said that when Anastasius was elevated to the throne of Antioch, at that time Justin, who was in charge of the royal chambers of his uncle Justinian, expected a gift of gold from Anastasius, since he was a greedy lover of money. But Saint Anastasius did not give him anything, rightly reasoning that it was not good to give gold for receiving spiritual orders, which is not acquired for gold, but given by the grace of the Holy Spirit. From that time on, Justin began to be angry with Anastasius. When, after the death of his uncle, he assumed control of the state, he began to seek accusations against the innocent Saint Anastasius and, taking advantage of false accusations, overthrew him from the throne. After the overthrow of Anastasius, Gregory 2669, hegumen of the Faran Lavra, was appointed against his will to the Patriarchal throne of Antioch, a man also adorned with piety, commemorated with praise in the Limonar of His Holiness Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem. After the death of this Gregory, blessed Anastasius Sinaite, after twenty-three years of his stay in exile during the reign of the Emperor Mauritius in 2670, was again returned to the Patriarchal throne of Antioch in 2671. At that time, the pope in Rome was Saint Gregory the Great, nicknamed the Dvoeslov, or Interlocutor 2672. This saint was in sincere spiritual communication with this blessed Anastasius, being in correspondence with him. When Saint Pope Gregory heard that Anastasius had returned to his throne, he immediately, rejoicing at his return, sent him a message in which he wrote to him the following: “Glory to God in heaven, but on earth let there be peace and joy, since the vast river, which once left the rocky soil of Antioch dry, has now returned to its channel and waters the valleys it washes.” In another letter he says again: “You inform me, Holy Father, that if it were possible, you would like to have a conversation with me without paper and pen, and you condole that this is prevented by too great a distance between East and West. But I tell the truth that even on paper your thought conducts an interview with me - as if without paper. From the words of your conversation, I see your love for me, and we, united by the grace of the omnipotent God in a union of love, are not separated by distance. Why do you want to have the gilded wings of a dove that you already have? For these wings are love for God and neighbor. The Holy Church flies on these wings, with them it surpasses everything earthly. If you, holy father, did not have these wings, you would not have flown to me with such love in a letter. So, I beg you, pray for me, who is weak, so that through your prayers the Lord would quickly free me from such great disasters and unrest (caused to Rome by the Lombards 2673) and lead me to a haven of eternal peace. I gratefully accepted your good wishes, which you, a man of God, being humble in spirit, expressed to me and regarding which you say: “What can a beggar give except what belongs to a beggar?” But if you had not made yourself poor in spirit, your blessings would not have been so generous. May Almighty God protect you with His protection from all evil. And since your life is very important for all good people, after only many years, may the Almighty resettle you in the eternal abodes of the heavenly fatherland.” From this letter of Saint Gregory, Pope of Rome, to Blessed Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch, the mutual love of both of them in the Holy Spirit becomes obvious, and at the same time, the piety and holiness of Anastasius’ life is evidenced in this letter. Blessed Anastasius, having lived six years after his return to the throne, reposed in the Lord in the fourteenth year of the reign of Emperor Mauritius. After this Saint Anastasius of Sinaite, another Anastasius assumed the patriarchate, but without this name Sinaite 2674. The latter was killed by the Jews during the reign of the emperor, the persecutor of Christians, Phocas 2675 and was revered by believers as a martyr of Christ. It should be noted that there were two Anastasias with the name “Sinaita”. The first is the Patriarch of Antioch, who died during the reign of Emperor Mauritius, and the other, celebrated today, was the abbot of Mount Sinai and died during the reign of Emperor Heraclius 2676, who was the successor of the persecutor Phocas, who killed Mauritius. In those days there were also other venerable fathers with the name Anastasius, who became famous for their virtuous lives, but not Sinaites, like this Anastasius, who, having ascended the patriarchal throne in Antioch after Anastasius the Sinaite, was killed by the Jews. In addition, in Limonar, in chapters 48 and 49, Abba Anastasius is mentioned, who was in Jerusalem the keymaster of the life-giving Tomb and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ our God. Emperor Justinian the Great reigned from 527 to 565. Patriarch Domnus II of Antioch ruled the patriarchal see from 546 to 560. Such thoughts were held by the so-called heretics autartodocetes (from the Greek - imperishable) - a branch of the heresy of the Monophysites. See his life under April 6 Justin II reigned from 565 to 578. Lavra of Paran received its name from the nearby village of Paran. The place of this monastery is indicated in the life of the Monk Euthymius in the following words: “Euphemius came to the monastery called Fara, located at a distance of six miles from the holy city.” – Gregory II ruled the Patriarchate of Antioch from 573–596. Saint Mauritius ruled Byzantium from 582 to 602. Saint Anastasius of Sinaiti ruled the patriarchal see for the first time from 561 to 572, and for the second time from 596 to 601. Saint Gregory the Dvoeslov was Pope from 590 to 604. His memory is celebrated by the Church on March 12 of the Apostle Peter in the chapel dedicated to his name. - From the writings of St. Gregory’s works are especially remarkable: “Dialogue on the Life of the Italian Fathers” (for this work he received the name “Double Words”) and “The Pastoral Rule,” which talks about the duties of a shepherd. Lombards are a Germanic tribe; in ancient times they lived between the lower Elbe and Aller; from the 4th century gradually began to move to the southeast to the Danube and in the 6th century. captured Pannona. From here in 568 they went to Italy and conquered it all in a war against the Eastern Romans, with the exception of Liguria, the Exarchate, Pentopolis, the Roman Ducat, the region of Naples and both southern peninsulas. From the conquered regions of central Italy, the Lombard kingdom was formed, which in 774 was conquered by Charlemagne, who took the title of king of the Lombards. The later German kings and emperors, as rulers of Italy, bore the title of Lombard kings. Anastasius II ruled the Patriarchate of Antioch from 602 to 610. Emperor Phocas reigned from 602 to 610. Emperor Heraclius reigned from 610 to 641. You might be interested in: