Much time has passed since the persecution of the Christ's Church ceased. The Church of God, nourished by the honorable blood of God's servants, spread to all corners of the earth. Then the devil, envying, began to turn the believers away from Christ, inciting iconoclasm. The emperor Constantine Copronymus, rejecting the veneration of holy icons, threatened with torture all who did not obey his command. Many believers hid, while some, firmly holding to the tradition of the holy fathers, bravely resisted the iconoclasts and suffered for it.
On the island of Crete lived a pious man named Andrew, who, hearing of the persecutions, went to Constantinople. He openly taught the people not to be seduced by heretical teachings and strengthened the believers. When Andrew saw the cruel tortures for the veneration of icons, he came to the emperor and boldly exclaimed that he, calling himself a Christian, tramples upon the icons of Christ.
The emperor ordered Andrew to be seized, and he was brutally beaten. Andrew, unafraid, continued to defend the veneration of icons, asserting that the dishonor of the icons passes to Him Who is depicted on them. Despite threats and torture, he did not renounce Christ and continued to profess his faith.
After many tortures, the saint was imprisoned, where he strengthened the believers who came to him. Eventually, he was taken for execution, and he was killed when one of the heretics cut his leg. The body of the saint was cast into a pit, but later it was found and placed in a sacred place, where many received healings. Saint Andrew has boldness before God and prays for all of us.
