6th century
Saint Anastasia the Patrician
A noblewoman of Justinian's court who spent twenty-eight years disguised as a monk in a cave in the Egyptian desert.
Biography
Anastasia came from a noble and wealthy Byzantine family and served as chief lady-in-waiting to Empress Theodora under Justinian the Great, who granted her the title of patrician for her worth. This favor, however, roused the empress's jealousy.
To avoid danger, Anastasia fled to Alexandria, where she founded a monastery, and then to the skete of Abba Daniel, who dressed her as a man under the name Anastasios and settled her in a cave. There she remained enclosed for twenty-eight years, until her peaceful death.