Virgin Martyr Anysia of Thessalonica

Virgin-Martyr Anysia of Thessalonica was the daughter of devout Christian parents in the city of Thessalonica. Orphaned young, she distributed her inheritance to the poor and adopted a strict ascetic life of fasting, prayer, and works of mercy — tending the sick, visiting prisoners, and caring for widows and orphans.

During the persecution under Emperor Maximian, as she was on her way to church she was stopped at the city's Cassandriote Gate by a pagan soldier who demanded to know where she was going and tried to force her to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Making the sign of the cross and confessing her faith in Christ, she struggled free of him, and in his fury the soldier ran her through with his sword, killing her.

Christians buried her body near the city gate, and after the persecution ended a chapel was built over her grave. Her relics are venerated today in the Church of St. Demetrius in Thessaloniki.

Her feast is kept on December 30/January 12.