women saints – TYPiNG ouT oF THe BLue

Anastasia is believed to have lived in the 6th century, around the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. She was known as a patrician, meaning she belonged to the noble class of the empire and lived close to the imperial court in Constantinople.

But Anastasia did not remain in that world.

According to early Christian tradition, after the death of Empress Theodora, the emperor became interested in her. Wanting to avoid attention from the imperial court and desiring a life devoted entirely to God, she chose to leave Constantinople in secret.

She traveled to the deserts of Egypt, where many early monks lived lives of prayer and solitude. There she sought guidance from the ascetic Daniel the Stylite.

To protect her from being discovered, Daniel advised an unusual solution. She would live in hiding disguised as a man.

She took the name Anastasius the Eunuch and lived as a hermit in the desert. Under this identity she was able to remain unnoticed among the monks and avoid being found by the imperial authorities.

For nearly twenty-eight years, she lived in a small cave in the Egyptian desert. Her life was marked by prayer, fasting, and silence. Only a very small number of monks knew her true identity.

Near the end of her life she became seriously ill. Before she died, she revealed the truth about herself to the monk who was caring for her. She asked that her identity remain hidden until after her death.

When the monks later learned who she really was, they were astonished to discover that the quiet hermit they had known for years was a woman who had once belonged to the highest levels of Byzantine society.

She died around AD 567.

The story of her life has been preserved mainly through early monastic writings. While historians note that some details come from tradition rather than imperial records, the account has long been remembered in Christian history.

Her long disguise also carries a striking reminder for today. In a world where people often feel pressure to build an image, protect a reputation, or constantly be seen, Saint Anastasia chose the opposite path. She hid her identity so completely that for decades people knew her only by the life she lived. In the end, it was not her title, status, or even her real name that mattered, but the faithfulness she practiced day after day in the desert.

Let’s keep learning the saints’ way—day by day.

⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ

Frances of Rome (1384–1440) lived in a time when Rome itself was unstable. Wars, political struggles, and disease made everyday life uncertain. Yet her story is not about dramatic miracles or grand speeches. It is about faith lived in ordinary life.

Frances was born into a noble Roman family. As a young girl, she wanted to become a nun. But in those days families often arranged marriages, and at the age of thirteen she married Lorenzo Ponziani, a Roman nobleman.

Instead of rejecting that life, she slowly turned her home into a place of service.

During periods of famine and plague in Rome, Frances used the family’s wealth to feed the poor. She visited the sick, opened their house to those who had nothing, and spent long hours helping people suffering in the streets. Her charity gradually became well known in the city.

Not everyone appreciated this.

Some relatives believed she was giving away too much. At one point, when she emptied the family storehouse of grain to help the poor, her father-in-law became angry. Tradition says the grain later multiplied. Whether understood as miracle or memory, the story reflects how boldly she placed compassion above social expectations.

Her life was not easy.

Rome was shaken by wars and political conflicts during her lifetime. Her husband was wounded and later taken prisoner. Two of her children died young. Instead of withdrawing from the world, Frances continued helping others through the hardships around her.

Later in life she formed a community of women connected to the Benedictine tradition. They were not cloistered nuns. They lived in their homes but followed a shared spiritual rule of prayer and service. This community later became known as the Oblates of Saint Benedict at Tor de’ Specchi.

One detail often mentioned in her story is that she was believed to see her guardian angel guiding her during difficult moments. Whether taken literally or symbolically, the message is simple: she lived with a constant awareness of God’s presence.

After her husband died, Frances eventually joined the community she had founded and spent her remaining years in prayer and service.

She died in 1440.

Today she is remembered as Saint Frances of Rome, patron saint of widows and motorists. The motorists connection came centuries later because of the tradition that her guardian angel guided her safely on journeys.

Her story carries a simple lesson.

She did not run away from the world. She stayed inside it. Marriage, family, loss, responsibility, and city life were all part of her path.

In a world that often separates spiritual life from ordinary life, Saint Frances quietly shows that the two can exist in the same place.

Sometimes holiness looks less like escape and more like faithfulness in the middle of everyday life.

Let’s keep learning the saints’ way—day by day.

⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ

Tag: women saints

Saint Anastasia the Patrician—A Noblewoman Who Lived as a Monk

Saint Frances of Rome—Holiness at Home