The life of St Anastasius of Epirus
For this he was seized, brought before the pasha, and pressed by threats, beatings, and promises of honor to renounce Christ, but he would not yield.
Musa, struck by the peace with which Anastasius bore his suffering, went secretly to his cell and saw two shining figures beside him, who vanished as he entered; Anastasius told him these were the angels who guard every Christian, and spoke to him simply of the Gospel. Moved, Musa asked to become a Christian himself, but Anastasius counseled him to wait, knowing his father would turn on the Christians of the region if word got out. A few days later, in 1750, Anastasius was beheaded on the pasha's order. His body lay unburied for three days beneath a light seen shining over it at night, until the pasha, shaken by a dream, allowed it to be buried. Musa in time fled his father's house, was baptized, and became a monk named Daniel, who built a church in Anastasius's honor and lived out his years there in peace.
