Anastasius I of Rome

Anastasius I of Rome was bishop of Rome from 27 November 399 until his death on 19 December 401. He shepherded the Church only briefly, but the great Fathers of his time esteemed him.

He was a Roman, the son of a man named Maximus, and succeeded Saint Siricius in the see. Among his friends were Blessed Augustine, Blessed Jerome and Saint Paulinus of Nola. Jerome speaks of him as a man of great holiness, rich in his poverty.

In his time the writings of Origen had been translated into Latin and were troubling the West. At the urging of Jerome and Theophilus of Alexandria, Anastasius condemned them and gathered a synod at Rome in 400. In a letter he declared all of Origen's writings condemned, together with their author. He also encouraged the Christians of North Africa in their struggle against the Donatist schism. The Book of the Popes says he ordered the priests to stand, with head bowed, at the reading of the Gospel.

He died at Rome and was buried in the catacomb of Pontianus. He is a saint of the undivided Church, commemorated on 19 December, also in English-⁠language Orthodox calendars that include Western saints, which describe him as a man of poverty and apostolic mind.