Pope Anastasius of Alexandria

Saint Anastasius of Alexandria
36th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark
Papacy began	605
Papacy ended	18 December 616
Predecessor	Damian
Successor	Andronicus
Personal details
Birth name	Alexandria, Egypt
Born	Egypt
Died	18 December 616 Alexandria, Egypt
Buried	Ennaton Monastery near Alexandria
Nationality	Egyptian
Denomination	Coptic Orthodox Christian
Residence	Saint Mark's Church
Sainthood
Feast day	18 December (22 Kiahk in the Coptic Calendar)

Pope Anastasius of Alexandria, 36th Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. During his reign, despite being personally barred from the city of Alexandria, he met with the Patriarch of Antioch as they worked to arrange the unification of their two churches.

Life

He was one of the great noblemen of Alexandria. Before he became a Pope, he was an overseer of the patriarchal court, then he became a priest for the church of Alexandria.^[1] Shortly afterwards, he was unanimously selected by the bishops and clergy of the Coptic Church to succeed Pope Damian of Alexandria as Patriarch. His biography was written by Severus Ibn al-Muqaffa in his History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria. His name does not appear in the standard biographical dictionaries of the Christian church. One possible reason for this omission is the fact that, as indicated in the History, the influence of the Council of Chalcedon's decisions were very strong at the time, both in Alexandria and in the court of Constantinople.^[2]

Not only were Coptic bishops of this time not officially recognized, they were also forbidden to enter Alexandria. The Coptic church in Alexandria was understandably troubled by this arrangement, which was instituted under the reign of Tiberius II Constantine, and his local adjutant named Belisarius. This persecution continued after the death of Tiberius under his son, Maurice. After the murder of Maurice by Phocas, who had overthrown him earlier, the situation deteriorated still further. A citizen of Alexandria who adhered to the Council of Chalcedon's edicts, Eulogius of Alexandria, wrote a defamatory letter to Photas regarding Anastasius. Photas responded by issuing an order to his prefect in Alexandria that the important church of Cosmas and Damian, and all its dependent churches, be turned over to Eulogius,^[1] who became the recognized Patriarch of Alexandria. Anastasius, deeply saddened by this, left for a nearby monastery.^[2]

With the increasing difficulties his church was facing domestically, Anastasius turned more of his attention toward improving relations with other churches. This led to closer contacts with the Church of Antioch. Athanasius I Gammolo, the new Patriarch of Antioch, did not share the support of the edicts of Chalcedon that his predecessor had. When Anastasius learned of Athanasius's succession there, he wrote him a letter commending him on his wisdom in retracting his predecessor's errors,^[1] and urged him to help establish closer relations, and perhaps even unity, between the churches of Alexandria and Antioch. Upon receiving the letter, Athanasius convened a council of his bishops regarding the proposal, and they decided to send a delegation to Alexandria to see if it would be possible to unite the two churches. Athanasius, with five of his bishops, set sail for Alexandria. The delegation arrived, and met with Anastasius, presumably outside of the city, as Anastasius was still barred from entering the city, possibly in the monastery in which Anastasius was staying.^[2]

On the arrival of the delegation, Anastasius summoned all of his bishops and clergy. The leaders of the two churches embraced each other with a kiss of peace, and declared their two churches to be united in doctrine. The two patriarchs remained in the monastery for a month thereafter, discussing a wide variety of topics, including implementing their newfound unity. At the end of the month, Athanasius returned to Antioch.^[2]

Anastasius spent the remaining years of his patriarchate attending to the affairs of his church, including its now closer relationship with Antioch. He also wrote prolifically on matters of theology. He is said to have written enough to have one book put out every year of his reign, presumably twelve books for the twelve years of his reign. Over the years, however, many of these writings have been lost.^[2]

Veneration

Anastasius is considered a saint by the Coptic Church. His feast day is celebrated on 18 December.^[3]

Notes

1 2 3 "The Departure of St. Anastasius, 36th Pope of Alexandria". CopticChurch.net. St. Mark Coptic Church. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
1 2 3 4 5 Atiya, Aziz Suryal (1991). "Anastasius". The Coptic Encyclopedia. 1. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-897025-X.
↑ Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.

References

البابا أنسطاسيوس [Pope Anastasius] (in Arabic). Official website of St. Takla Haymanot's Church. Retrieved 2011-02-13.

Preceded by Damian	Coptic Pope 605–616	Succeeded by Andronicus

Popes of Alexandria and Patriarchs of the See of St. Mark

Patriarchs prior to the Chalcedonian schism (43–451)	Mark I the Evangelist (founder) Anianus Avilius Kedronos Primus Justus Eumenius Markianos* Celadion Agrippinus Julian Demetrius I Heraclas Dionysius Maximus Theonas Peter I Achillas Alexander I Athanasius I Peter II Timothy I Theophilus I Cyril I Dioscorus I

Coptic Orthodox Popes and Patriarchs (451–present)	Timothy II Peter III Athanasius II John I John II Dioscorus II Timothy III Theodosius I Peter IV Damian Anastasius Andronicus Benjamin I Agathon John III Isaac Simeon I Alexander II Cosmas I Theodore I Michael I Mina I John IV Mark II James Simeon II Joseph I Michael II Cosmas II Shenouda I Michael III Gabriel I Cosmas III Macarius I Theophilus II (AKA Theophanes) Mina II Abraham Philotheos Zacharias Shenouda II Christodolos Cyril II Michael IV Macarius II Gabriel II Michael V John V Mark III John VI Cyril III Athanasius III John VII Gabriel III John VII Theodosius III John VIII John IX Benjamin II Peter V Mark IV John X Gabriel IV Matthew I Gabriel V John XI Matthew II Gabriel VI Michael VI John XII John XIII Gabriel VII John XIV Gabriel VIII Mark V John XV Matthew III Mark VI Matthew IV John XVI Peter VI John XVII Mark VII John XVIII Mark VIII Peter VII Cyril IV Demetrius II Cyril V John XIX Macarius III Joseph II Cyril VI Shenouda III Tawadros II (current)

Greek Orthodox Patriarchs (451–present)	Proterius Timothy II Timothy III John I Peter III Athanasius II John II John III Dioscorus II Timothy IV Theodosius I Gainas Paul Zoilus Apollinarius John IV Eulogius Theodore I John V George I Cyrus Peter IV Peter V Peter VI Cosmas I Politianus Eustatius Christopher I Sophronius I Michael I Michael II Christodoulos Eutychius Sophronius II Isaac Job Elias I Arsenius Theophilus II George II Leontius Alexander II John VI Cyril II Sabbas Sophronius III Elias II Eleutherius Mark III* Nicholas I Gregory I Nicholas II Athanasius III Gregory II Gregory III Niphon Mark IV Nicholas III Gregory IV Nicholas IV Athanasius IV Mark V Philotheus Mark VI Gregory V Joachim I Silvester Meletius I Pegas Cyril III Gerasimus I Metrophanes Nicephorus Joannicius Paisius Parthenius I Gerasimus II Samuel Cosmas II Cosmas III Matthew Cyprian Gerasimus III Parthenius II Theophilus III Hierotheus I Artemius Hierotheus II Callinicus Jacob Nicanor Sophronius IV Photius Meletius II Nicholas V Christopher II Nicholas VI Parthenius III Peter VII Theodore II (current)

*Markianos is considered Mark II on the Greek side of the subsequent schism, hence this numbering of Mark III. Category Commons

Coptic saints

Theotokos	Our Lady of Zeitoun Our Lady of Assiut Our Lady of Warraq

Seven Archangels	Gabriel Haniel Michael Raguel Raphael Sariel Zadkiel

Patriarchs	Abraham Isaac Jacob Joseph

Prophets	Moses Job Samuel David Hosea Amos Micah Joel Obadiah Jonah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Isaiah Jeremiah Baruch Ezekiel Daniel John the Baptist

Apostles	Peter Andrew Bartholomew James, son of Alphaeus James, son of Zebedee John Jude Matthew Matthias Philip Simon Thomas

Evangelists	Matthew Mark Luke John

Disciples	Mary Magdalene Stephen Timothy Titus Philemon Barnabas Apollos Silvanus Priscilla and Aquila Seventy disciples

Martyrs	Abulak Abāmūn of Tarnūt Abanoub Abaskhiron the Soldier Apollonia Catherine Chiaffredo Chrysanthus and Daria Cyrus and John Damian Dasya Demiana Dorothea Felix and Regula Hor, Besoy, and Daydara Maurice Menas Mohrael Protus and Hyacinth Sidhom Bishay Kosheh Martyrs Nag Hammadi massacre 2011 Alexandria bombing 2011 Imbaba Martyrs Maspero Martyrs 2015 kidnapping and beheading of Copts in Libya

Popes	Abraham Agatho Alexander Anastasius Andronicus Anianus Athanasius Avilius Cyril Cyril VI Demetrius Dioscorus I Matthew I Peter

Bishops	Abadiu of Antinoe Abraam, Bishop of Faiyum Augustine of Hippo Basil of Caesarea Ignatius of Antioch Paphnutius of Thebes St. Psote, Bishop of Ebsay St. Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis

Monks and hermits	Ababius Abdel Messih El-Makari Abib and Apollo Abraham of Farshut Abraham of Scetes Amun Anthony the Great Awgin Bashnouna Forty Nine Elder Martyrs of Scetes Hilarion Isaac of Nineveh Isidore of Pelusium John Climacus John the Dwarf Karas Macarius of Alexandria Macarius of Egypt Mary of Egypt Misael the Anchorite Moses the Black Mother Irini Nilus of Sinai Onuphrius Pachomius the Great Pambo Paphnutius the Ascetic Parsoma Paul of Tammah Paul of Thebes Paul the Simple Pijimi Pishoy Poemen Samuel the Confessor Shenoute Tekle Haymanot Zosimas of Palestine

Other saints	Ambrose Didymus the Blind Euphrosyne Simon the Tanner Verena

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