Venerable Martyr Andrew of Crete (+767)

The Venerable Martyr Andrew of Crete lived the life of a hermit on the island of Crete in the time of the iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus (741–775). When the lawless autocrat ordered the holy icons to be thrown out of churches and houses and began to persecute the Orthodox, the blessed father came to Constantinople and in the church of the holy Martyr Mamas publicly rebuked the heretical ruler. The soldiers seized the blessed Andrew. Constantine Copronymus summoned the saint to the palace. There the hermit boldly stood up to the emperor, who mocked the venerators of icons; among other things he pointed out that if those who fail to pay due honour to the statues and images of the king are punished with death, still more intolerable to God is the forbidding of the veneration of the images of Christ. By order of the enraged autocrat the holy father was cruelly tortured and then thrown, dying, into prison. The Orthodox gathered in his cell, and the Lord’s chosen one encouraged them and urged them to keep the true faith firmly. When the emperor learned of this, he ordered Saint Andrew to be tortured again. He was led through the streets of the city on the way 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 at him and killed him with an axe (+767).