Venerable Martyr Andrew of Crete — October 17 / October 30 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, October 17 according to the Julian Calendar (October 30 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Martyr Andrew of Crete.

The Venerable Martyr Andrew of Crete lived the life of a desert monk on the island of Crete during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus (741-775). When the lawless sovereign ordered the holy icons to be removed from churches and homes and began to persecute the faithful, the blessed father came to Constantinople and publicly denounced the heretical ruler in the church of the holy martyr Mamas. Soldiers seized the blessed Andrew, and Constantine Copronymus summoned the saint to the palace. There the desert dweller boldly stood before the emperor, who was mocking those who venerate icons. Among other things, he said that if those who fail to show due honor to the emperor’s statues and images are punished with death, then forbidding the veneration of the images of Christ is all the more unacceptable to God.

At the enraged sovereign’s command the holy father was cruelly tortured and then, half dead, thrown into prison. The faithful gathered in his cell, and the chosen one of the Lord encouraged them and urged them to hold firmly to the true faith. When the emperor learned of this, he ordered Saint Andrew to be tortured once more. He was led through the streets of the city to the place of execution. On the way the saint prayed, while the lawless mocked him and threw stones at him; at last a heretic rushed up and killed him with an axe (+767).