Anastasia of Sirmium

Little is reliably known about Anastasia beyond her death at Sirmium in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda, in what is now Serbia. Legends that emerged centuries later variously describe her as Roman or Sirmian by birth, of patrician rank, the daughter of a certain Praetextatus, and a pupil of Saint Chrysogonus; Catholic tradition names her mother as St. Fausta of Sirmium. She died on 25 December 304 AD in Diocletian's persecutions. Her veneration as a healer and exorcist took root early, earning her the epithet Pharmakolytria in the East - "One who Cures Wounds." She remains one of only seven virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Roman Canon, a rare liturgical prominence for a figure whose earthly story dissolved almost entirely into devotion.