Venerable-Martyr 12th century

Venerable-Martyr Anastasius the Deacon of the Kiev Caves

12th century

A deacon of the Kiev Near Caves who shone in monastic obedience.

Feast Day

January 22

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father and Martyr Anastasius the Deacon of the Kiev Near Caves

Life

Anastasius was a deacon of the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery (Kyiv Pechersk Lavra) who is remembered for his ascetical life and monastic obedience. He is counted among the venerable fathers whose relics rest in the Near Caves.

Surviving sources preserve little biographical detail about him. The hieromonk Athanasius the Sooty identified Anastasius as the brother of Saint Titus the Presbyter, who is commemorated on February 27, and historical manuscripts describe him specifically as a deacon.

He is venerated as a venerable-martyr, though the accessible sources do not record the circumstances of his martyrdom. His principal commemoration is on January 22.

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12th century Monastic life in the Near Caves Anastasius lived an ascetical life as a deacon in the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery, the period in which most of the individually venerated Near Caves fathers flourished.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery

The Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Monastery (Kyiv Pechersk Lavra) hold the relics of numerous saints of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, among them Nestor the Chronicler, Kuksha, Alipy the icon-painter, and Agapetus the physician. The community's saints represent a broad range of monastic vocations, including chroniclers, physicians, icon-painters, and deacons.

Anastasius the Deacon belongs to this tradition. He is commemorated individually on January 22 and collectively with the other Near Caves fathers on September 28, the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Near Caves. He is also commemorated on the Second Sunday of Great Lent.

Veneration

The service text for Anastasius records that he possessed such steadfastness in God that he received everything he asked for. A troparion and kontakion for the saint are preserved in the Orthodox Church in America's synaxarion.

Anastasius is genuinely obscure within the Near Caves tradition. No dedicated account of his martyrdom, his relics, or a glorification date was found in the accessible sources, and he is not individually treated in the Kyiv-Pechersk Patericon, the principal hagiographic compilation of the Lavra's monks.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 22