Aninas of Chalcedon

Venerable Aninas of Chalcedon (Aninas the Wonderworker) is a venerable wonderworker whose life is preserved in two hagiographical texts. The sources differ on the day of commemoration: the Russian source gives 26 and 31 March, the Serbian 18 March by the old calendar (31 March by the new); the record gives 18 and 13 March.

His life was based, until the beginning of the twenty-⁠first century, on two texts: a Greek life inserted in the second half of the twelfth century into the Synaxarion of Constantinople and a fourteenth-⁠century panegyric by Theodore Irtakenos; both are poorly informative, which gave grounds to say that Aninas' biography contains no chronological data. But there is also a third version of the life, preserved in Slavonic translation, and unpublished texts about Aninas: a canon by Joseph the Hymnographer and a Syriac life of Aninas by Jacob of Sarug.

Aninas was born, presumably in 488, at Chalcis (today Kinnasrin), into a Christian family; the Serbian source says that he was from Chalcedon and small of stature. At 15 he was orphaned, went to a monastery and received monastic tonsure. According to legend, in the desert place where Aninas went there was no water, and he carried water from the Euphrates in a small vessel. Once, when he had not yet gone far from his dwelling, an angel appeared to him and filled the vessel with water. The Serbian source says that he settled near the Euphrates in a cell, where he laboured and prayed, first with his teacher Maymun, and after his death alone. The report spread in the surroundings that Aninas had the gift of prophecy and healing and many began to come to him. The saint healed not only people but also animals, over which the Lord gave him authority, and removed spells. By his prayers the vessels and the well near his dwelling were several times miraculously filled with water; according to the Serbian source, by the power of prayer he filled a dry well with water, healed the sick and tamed beasts, and a tamed lion was always in his service. A stylite, Pionius, attacked and beaten by robbers, was thinking of coming down from the pillar and complaining to the judges; Saint Aninas saw into his soul and sent him a letter by his lion, that he should give up his intention, forgive the attackers and continue his labour. He was very merciful: the bishop of Neocaesarea gave him a donkey to help him bring water from the river, but he gave it to a poor man; the bishop gave him a second, which he also gave away; then he gave him a third, only to serve him with water, with the obligation to keep it and return it. Before his death, according to tradition, Aninas saw the heavenly Jerusalem and the messengers of the Lord, Moses, Aaron and Hur, which the monks present at his death also saw; according to the Serbian source, they called him: Aninas, the Lord calls you, arise and come with us. He lived 110 years and foretold the time of his death himself.