Anastasica

Based on a Faiyum portrait (Egypt, 1st – 3rd century). The face Anastasica might have had.

Her name designates a desert flower which has the peculiarity of almost completely drying out, but blooming again at the first rain. Her father, a rich merchant from Jericho, who left very young for Syria to make his fortune, gave her this name evoking the land of her origins.

She marries a notable from Jericho, Samuel, who soon accuses her of leprosy to repudiate her and marry another woman whom he was in love with.        

"'They call me “the leper woman'. Anastasica confides to Jesus. 'But I have only one sore on my breast and I got it from my husband, who married me when I was a virgin and healthy, but he was not healthy. But he is a mighty one… and can do anything, even saying that I had betrayed him as I was ill when I married him. He thus repudiated me to take another woman with whom he had fallen in love.'"

For several months, she looks for Jesus whom she had heard about from compassionate passersby. She risks stoning for having fled her leper colony. Jesus meets her hungry and exhausted. He heals her and entrusts her to Eliza of Bethzur, a widow deeply affected by the mourning of her husband and her two sons, who could not have wished for better.

Young Anastasica no longer leaves Eliza, except when the harbor of the apostolic group in Nob, near Jerusalem, shelters a Judas womanizer and fugitive.        

She is naturally present among the disciples at Jesus’ Ascension.    

Did she recover, with her inheritance, a property in Jericho or take over Eliza's succession? In any case, her house had become one of the usual refuges of the disciples until their dispersion at the approach of the persecutions of Herod Agrippa I, as attested by a conversation between Peter and John about the decisions to be made:

"'Not out of cowardice and fear, but to avoid a total destruction, which would be deleterious to the Church of Christ. [...] Why could we not remain at Bethany? Just for that reason. Why is it not more prudent to stay in this house, or in Nicodemus’, or in Nike’s, or in Anastasica’s? Always for the same reason. To prevent the Church from dying, because of the death of its leaders.'"

Her Name

Anastasica comes from the "rose of Jericho", Anastatica hierochuntica, also called the "rose of resurrection" (Anastasis in Greek). See below. Does the current scientific name derive from the ancient name?

Where is she mentioned in the work?

GRM 360 GRM 365 GRM 366 GRM 367 GRM 368 GRM 370 GRM 371 GRM 375 GRM 376 GRM 378 GRM 399

GRM 402 GRM 441

GRM 511 GRM 528 GRM 566 GRM 596

GRM 638 GRM 648

Learn More About This Character

Excerpts from the Dictionary of Gospel Characters, according to Maria Valtorta (Msgr. R. Laurentin, F.-M. Debroise, J.-F. Lavère).

The rose of Jericho (Anastatica hierochuntica) has the peculiarity of being able to dry out for 50 years, until it represents only 3% of its initial mass, then green again within two hours. Because of this, it is often called the "rose of resurrection" (in Greek: anastasis). This root aligns with the name used by Maria Valtorta: ANASTASICA and not ANASTATICA, its botanical name. This knowledge is intriguing. Does it find a basis in history? The German botanist Heinrich Marzell (1885-1970) traces the origin of the name to Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). He speaks of "roses of Jericho" in verse 24:14 (or 24:18): "quasi plantatio rosae in Hiericho (like a rose plant in Jericho)". Some translate this as oleanders, but the botanical name, Anastatica hierochuntica, clearly indicates its origin: Jericho, provided that the Sirach citation indeed identifies this plant.    

What became of Anastasica? The Acts of the Apostles speak of a certain "Rose" designated by the Greek name Rhodé: She hears Peter, miraculously escaped from prison, knocking at the door. Filled with joy, she runs to announce the news to the praying assembly, leaving the apostle outside. This Rhodé is presented by Saint Luke as a "young servant".