Astius

Saint

Astius
Shën Asti
άγιος Άστιος
Saint; Astius; Shën Asti; άγιος Άστιος
Martyr and Bishop of Dyrrhachium
Hometown	Roman Dyrrhachium
Died	c. 98; Dyrrhachium, Epirus Nova, Roman Empire (modern Durrës, Albania)
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	4 July – Eastern Orthodox Albanians celebrate on July 6
Patronage	City of Durrës

Astius (died AD 98 AD; Albanian: Asti, Greek: Άστιος) is a 2nd-century Christian martyr venerated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He was the bishop of Dyrrhachium (now Durrës in Albania).

According to legend, he was arrested by Agricola, the Roman governor of Dyrrachium, and was tortured to death around 98 AD for refusing to worship the god Dionysus. He was crucified during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Trajan.

Life

The hieromartyr Astius was born an Illyrian. Astius was bishop of the city of Dyrrachium (Durrës), during the time of the emperor Trajan (98–117). The saint once had a dream, a foreboding of his impending suffering and death for Christ. He was arrested by the Roman governor of Dyrrachium, Agricola, around the year 98.^[1] He was beaten with leaden rods and oxhide whips, but St Astius did not renounce Christ. They smeared his body with honey, so as to increase his suffering with the stings of hornets and flies, and crucified him for refusing to worship Dionysus. The martyr's body was reverently buried by Christians.

During this period, many Christians fled to Epirus to escape persecution in Italy. Among them were the seven holy martyrs: Peregrinus, Lucian, Pompeius, Hesychius, Papius, Saturninus and Germanus. Witnessing the martyrdom of Bishop Astius, who was crucified by the Romans, they openly praised the courage and firmness of the holy confessor. Because of this, they were seized, and as confessors of faith in Christ, they were arrested, thrown into chains, and subsequently drowned in the Adriatic Sea.^[2] Their bodies, carried to shore by the waves, were hidden in the sand by Christians. The martyrs appeared to the Bishop of Alexandria ninety years later, ordering him to bury their bodies and to build a church over them. Their feast day is 7 July.^[3]

Legacy

Progonos Sgouros, an Albanian nobleman and Byzantine general, restored the Church of the Virgin Peribleptos in Ohrid, at the time under Byzantine rule,^[4] a portrait of Saint Astius in the church was likely donated by him as a symbol of the close ties between Durrës and Ohrid.^[5]

Saint Astius’ feast day is July 4.^[6] In Albania, he is commemorated on July 6.^[7] He was declared patron protector of the city of Durrës.

References

^ Elsie, Robert. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture, NYU Press, 2001, p. 15 ISBN 9780814722145
^ Elsie, Robert. "The Christian Saints of Albania", Balkanistica 13, p. 36, 2000
^ "Martyr Peregrinus of Dyrrachium in Macedonia", Orthodox Church in America
^ Nicol 1986, p. 161 (Note #87): "An Albanian by the name of Progon Sgouros (Πρόγονος τοũ Σγούρου) and with the title of hetaireiarches restored the church of St. Clement of Ochrida about 1295."
^ Christidou, Anna (2014). "Political 'expedience' and peripheral saints: assimilating St. Asteios of Dyrrachion in the Byzantine Orthodox tradition". Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. 38 (2): 166. doi:10.1179/0307013114Z.00000000042. S2CID 153766631. Gozdanov also notes, rightly, that the prominent position of St. Asteios' portrait at St. Clement of Ohrid may also be associated with Progon Sgouros, the commissioning patron originating from Dyrrachion, and with the intention to highlight visually the close ecclesiastical ties between Dyrrachion and Ohrid
^ "Hieromartyr Astius the Bishop of Dyrrachium in ", Orthodox Church in America
^ https://www.scribd.com/doc/139765547/Kalendari-Orthodhoks-2013 Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine This is the day the Divine Liturgy is served in his memory at the church named for him,the cathedral in Durres.