St. Asterius of Amasea

Asterius studied rhetoric and law and practised as an advocate before entering the clergy. He later became bishop of Amasea in Pontus. Butler draws much of his account from the sermons themselves, which show a pastor concerned that the conduct of Christians should agree with the faith they professed.

Almsgiving occupies a prominent place in that preaching. Asterius spoke strongly against avarice, luxury, and public customs that he believed had no place in Christian life. A sermon preached at the beginning of the year 400 gives one point by which his ministry can be dated. Butler also notes that some works transmitted under his name have a less certain attribution than the principal collection.

His sermons on the martyrs witness to the honour paid to their relics and to prayer for their intercession in the early Church. Butler preserves Asterius’s distinction between worship due to God and the honour shown to those who served Him. These surviving writings make his life more than a name in a calendar: they preserve the voice of a bishop teaching on mercy, Christian responsibility, and the communion of saints.