St. Surnamed Astric Anastasius
St. Surnamed Astric Anastasius [1]
the apostle of Hungary, born in 954, died Sept. 10, 1044. He entered the Benedictine order at Rouen, France. Subsequently he went to Bohemia with Adalbert, bishop of Prague, by whom he was made abbot of Braunau. When Adalbert had to flee from Bohemia, Astric left with him. He found an asylum at the court of Duke Stephen of Hungary, who, in the year 1000, put him at the head of the Benedictine abbey of St. Martin. Stephen having divided his duchy into ten bishoprics, that of Colocza was accorded to Astric, who henceforth assumed the name Anastasius. The duke then sent him to Rome to obtain from the pope, Sylvester II, the sanction of the ecclesiastical organization of Hungary, and for him (Stephen) the title of king. Anastasius was successful in this mission; he brought back for Stephen, with the royal crown and the double cross, the right to regulate the affairs of the Hungarian Church. Being proclaimed king by the nation, Stephen was consecrated and crowned by Anastasius. The latter was, during three years, provisional metropolitan of Hungary, the archbishop of Strigonia being, by a temporary loss of sight, prevented from discharging the duties of his office. While provisional metropolitan, Anastasius was present at the assembly of Frankfort, and blessed the marriage of the king with Gisella, sister of the Emperor Henry. When the archbishop of Strigonia recovered his sight, Anastasius retired into his diocese, when he devoted himself until his death to the propagation of the Christian faith. — Oesterreichisches biographisches Lexicon (Vienna, 1851); Hoefer, Biog. Generale, 2, 480.
