Venerable-Martyr8th century

Monastic Martyr Andrew of Crete

8th century (died c. 766–767)

Also known as Andrew the Confessor

A monk who defended the holy icons under Constantine Kopronymos and was tortured and killed for resisting iconoclasm.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Monastic Martyr Andrew of Crete

Life

Andrew of Crete was an 8th-century monk venerated as a martyr for his defense of the holy icons during the first period of Byzantine Iconoclasm. He lived under the iconoclast emperor Constantine V Kopronymos (reigned 741–775) and is commemorated on October 17.

According to his synaxarion life, when he learned that the emperor was imprisoning pious Christians who refused to remove the icons from their churches and homes, he traveled to Constantinople and publicly denounced the emperor for persecuting the faith. He was tortured and died of his wounds while being dragged to execution.

He is distinct from Saint Andrew of Crete, the hierarch and author of the Great Canon (OS-1468). Both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches recognize him as a martyr.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide

KontakionTone 3

Today the Queen of cities
celebrates the radiant feast of your light-bearing memory,
and invites every city and country to join her.
She rejoices for she has gained a great treasure:
your body which sustained many struggles, martyr Andrew, beacon of Orthodoxy.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

Trained in asceticism on the mountain,
with the weapon of the Cross you destroyed the spiritual assaults of the hostile powers, all-blessed one;
Again you bravely prepared for combat
and slew Copronymus with the sword of faith;
for both struggles you have been crowned by God, monk-martyr Andrew of eternal memory.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

741–775Reign of Constantine V KopronymosAndrew lived under the iconoclast emperor, who ordered Christians under penalty of death to remove the holy icons from their churches and homes.
c. 766–767Public confession and martyrdomAndrew denounced the emperor in Constantinople for persecuting the faith; he was tortured and died of his wounds, by tradition at the Forum Bovis, his feet having been cut off as he was dragged to execution.
c. 9th centuryCanon composed by Joseph the HymnographerAbout a hundred years after the martyr's death, Saint Joseph the Hymnographer wrote a canon in his honor.

Contributions & Legacy

4 contributionsReadHide

Historical Context

Andrew lived during the first phase of Byzantine Iconoclasm, when the emperor Constantine V Kopronymos ordered Christians, under penalty of death, to remove the holy icons from their churches and homes. Those who resisted and held to the traditions of the Fathers were imprisoned.

According to his life, when Andrew heard that the emperor was throwing virtuous and pious Christians into prison in place of thieves and robbers, he went to the Church of the Great Martyr Mamas in Constantinople and publicly denounced the emperor for persecuting the true faith.

Confession and Martyrdom

The synaxarion relates that the emperor, attempting to justify himself, said that it was folly to venerate wood and paint. Andrew replied that whoever suffers for the holy icons suffers for Christ, and whoever reviles the icon on which Christ is depicted offers insult to Christ Himself.

Enraged, the emperor ordered Andrew tortured without mercy. As he was being dragged through the streets to the place of execution, his feet were cut off, and he died of his wounds. By tradition he was executed in the Forum Bovis (Forum of the Ox) in Constantinople, around 766 or 767.

Veneration and Legacy

About a hundred years after his death, a canon in his honor was written by Saint Joseph the Hymnographer (commemorated April 4), one of the foremost liturgical poets of the Eastern Church and himself an opponent of iconoclasm. This connects the martyr's veneration to the broader hymnographic tradition that flourished after the restoration of the icons.

A monastery dedicated to him, Saint Andrew in Krisei, once stood in Constantinople; the building survives today as the Koca Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Istanbul.

Modern scholarship treats the historical figure with caution. Brubaker and Haldon (Byzantium in the Iconoclast Era, 2011) note that the figure of Andrew of Crete, like those of many iconophile saints said to have lived under iconoclasm, is unverified.

Traditional Accounts

By tradition, Saint Andrew is invoked for the healing of those afflicted with seizures.

Related Saints2 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Fellow monk martyred for the veneration of the holy icons at Constantinople in the same iconoclast persecution under Constantine V Kopronymos.

Monastic Martyr Stephenthe New

The hymnographer who, about a century after Andrew's death, composed a canon in his honor.

Josephthe Hymnographer

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints