Anastasia was a beautiful Roman woman who for the Catholic Faith was tortured and burned alive. She is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass. It was in her church in Rome that the Holy Father used to say the second Mass on Christmas Day, the day on which every priest may say three Masses. Saint Anastasia’s mother, Fausta, is a saint and is commemorated on December 19, six days before her martyred daughter.
Great Martyr Anastasia, the Deliverer from Potions (Byzantine icon, 14th-15th century, State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia; source).
