Astius

Saint Astius (Astios, Asti), hieromartyr, was bishop of Dyrrhachium (today Durrës in Albania), a martyr at the beginning of the second century, in the time of the emperor Trajan. He is venerated by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches and is patron of the city of Durrës. The sources do not agree on the day of commemoration: 4 July (church calendar), 6 July (in Albania), 7 July (the calendar in our sources, together with the seven companions), while the Serbian Church commemorates him on 4 June by the old calendar.

His life according to tradition

Astius was bishop of the city of Dyrrhachium in the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), of Illyrian descent according to the Greek source. One day he had a dream that foretold his passion and death for Christ. Around the year 98 (the sources also give 117) he was arrested by Agricola, the Roman governor of Dyrrhachium. He was beaten with leaden rods and ox-⁠hide whips, but his faith did not waver. Then they smeared his body with honey, to increase his suffering by the stings of wasps and flies, and crucified him, because he refused to worship the god Dionysus. It is said that he died glorifying God. His body was buried reverently by the Christians.

At that time many Christians fled to Epirus because of the persecution in Italy. Among them were the seven martyrs Peregrinus, Lucian, Pompeius, Hesychius, Papius, Saturninus and Germanus. Seeing the martyrdom of Bishop Astius, crucified by the Romans, they openly praised the courage and firmness of the confessor. For this reason they were seized, bound in chains and then 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, commanding him to bury their bodies and build a church over them. Their commemoration is on 7 July.

Veneration

He is patron of the city of Durrës. The town of Shas in northern Albania takes its name from him (from Shën Asti, Saint Asti). In the twelfth century the Albanian nobleman and Byzantine general Progon Sgouros restored the church of the Mother of God Peribleptos in Ohrid, and it is believed that he also donated there an icon of Saint Astius, as a sign of the close ties between Durrës and Ohrid.