I could not find much about this saint other than he died in 628. He is also known as Anastasius of Persia & was a military commander in Asia Minor and Syria. After he was was tortured in Caesarea, he converted to Christianity, as he believed that the Holy Spirit had called upon him to forgive his persecutors.
According to legend, his corpse was thrown to the dogs but they miraculously refused to eat it, thus preserving the body for burial. But it’s his reliquary that makes him worthy of note. It is indeed a beauty. It was ntended to hold the skull of Saint Anastasios recalling the domed marble structure within the Holy Sepulchre that encloses the sacred spot of Jesus’s entombment.According to legend, the converted saint was baptized in that church, at which time he received the name Anastasios, a reference to the church’s Greek name, Anastasis. The Greek-inscribed Psalm verses refer to Jerusalem as “Sion” and the “City of God.”
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Chronia Polla Anastasios.
In my anguish... 