Astius

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. 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. 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.

Legacy

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

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

References

References

1. 9780814722145
2. [http://home.olemiss.edu/~mldyer/balk/article2.html Elsie, Robert. "The Christian Saints of Albania", ''Balkanistica'' '''13''', p. 36, 2000]
3. [http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/07/07/101953-martyr-peregrinus-of-dyrrachium-in-macedonia "Martyr Peregrinus of Dyrrachium in Macedonia", Orthodox Church in America]
4. [[Progonos Sgouros#CITEREFNicol1986. 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."
5. 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 (identifier). doi]]:10.1179/0307013114Z.00000000042. [[S2CID (identifier). 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
6. [http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/06/04/101608-hieromartyr-astius-the-bishop-of-dyrrachium "Hieromartyr Astius the Bishop of Dyrrachium in ", Orthodox Church in America]
7. https://www.scribd.com/doc/139765547/Kalendari-Orthodhoks-2013 {{Webarchive. link. (2013-10-22 This is the day the Divine Liturgy is served in his memory at the church named for him,the cathedral in Durres.)