My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 30th of November, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the Holy and Glorious and All-famed APOSTLE ANDREW, the First
Called.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
As for the first-called of the Apostles, and brother of their leader, O
Andrew, entreat the Master of all that peace be granted to the world
and great mercy to our souls.
Kontakion Hymn. Second Tone
Let us acclaim the namesake of courage, that herald of things divine,
the first-called of the Savior’s disciples, and the kinsman of Peter;
for as he formerly cried out to him, so the henow to us: Come, we have
found the Desired One.
ANDREW, the First-Called Holy Apostle of Christ, was the son of a Jew named Jonah and the brother of the holy preeminent Apostle Peter. He was a native of the Galilean town of Bethsaida. Disdaining the vanity of this world and preferring virginity to matrimony, he declined to enter into wedlock; and, hearing that the Holy Forerunner John was preaching repentance by the River Jordan, he left everything, went to him, and became his disciple. Andrew beheld the Holy Forerunner while he was pointing to Jesus as He passed by and saying, "BEHOLD, THE LAMB OF GOD" [John 1:36].
Saint Andrew, together with another disciple of the Forerunner John (whom many consider to have been the Evangelist John), left the Forerunner and Baptist John and followed after Christ. He sought out his brother Simon Peter and said to him, "WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH" [John 1:41] and (which is, interpreted, the CHRIST), and brought him to Jesus. Afterward, when he was fishing with Peter off the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus called to them, saying: "COME AFTER ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN" [Matthew 4:19]. Andrew, immediately leaving his nets when he heard the Lord’s SUMMONS, followed after Christ with his brother Peter [Matthew 4:20]. Andrew is known as the First-Called, BECAUSE HE BECAME A FOLLOWER and DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ before any of the other Apostles.
After the Lord’s VOLUNTARY PASSION and HIS RESURRECTION, the Holy Andrew, with the rest of the Holy Apostles, received the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, there appeared to the disciples TONGUES, AS IF OF FIRE, BEING DISTRIBUTED UPON EACH ONE OF THEM [Acts 2:3]. When the countries were divided among them, it fell to him by lot to spread the Holy Gospel in Bithynia, the Propontos, Chalcedon, Byzantium, Thrace, and Macedonia, all the way to the BLACK SEA and THE RIVER DANUBE, as well as Thessaly, Hellas, Achaia, Amisos, Trebizond, Herakleia, and Amastris. Saint Andrew passed through these lands and cities, preaching the Christian Faith. In each city, he had to endure much affliction and pain; but, fortified by the Omnipotent help of God,, he joyfully bore all such tribulations for Christ’s sake.
The Holy Andrew undertook Apostolic labors and endured pangs in the spreading of the Gospel of Christ. He passed on through Pontos, the seaboard of the Black Sea. Scythia, and hte Cheronese. By God’s Providence, he reached the RIVER DNIEPER in the land of Russia, and halting upon the shore beneath the HILLS OF KIEV, he lay down to rest. When he arose from sleep in the morning, he said to his disciples who had accompanied him, "BELIEVE ME: ON THESE HILLS THE GRACE OF GOD WILL SHINE FORTH. There will be a great city here, and the Lord will raise MANY CHURCHES IN THIS PLACE AND ENLIGHTEN ALL OF THE RUSSIAN LAND WITH HOLY BAPTISM. And ascending the hills, the Saint BLESSED THEM AND SET UP A CROSS, PROPHESYING THAT THE PEOPLE WHO DWELT THERE WOULD RECEIVE THE FAITH FROM THE APOSTOLIC SEE HE HAD ESTABLISHED IN BYZANTIUM.
Passing through the Russian cities, which lay to the North, where Novgorod the Great now stands, he went on to visit Rome. Then he made his way to the Greek land of Epirus and eventually arrived in Thrace, firmly establishing the Christians in the Faith and ORDAINING BISHOPS and leaders for them. After passing through many lands, he reached the Peloponnesos, and, entering the Achaian city of Patra, he lodged with a certain man by the name Sosios. He raised him up from his bed of sickness, and afterward he converted the whole city of Patras to Christ.
At that time, Maximilla, the wife of the Proconsul Aegeates, fell prey to a grievous affliction of the eyes. Though she visited every physician, she remained ill. Aegeates, observing his wife’s decline, fell into despair. One of his household, however, remembered the Holy Apostle; for he himself had received healing at his hands earlier. Thus, he hastened and besought the Apostle’s help for his master’s wife. The Saint then came and placed his hand upon her, and her health was restored immediately, and she rose up from her couch. When Aegeates beheld this miracle, he went and brought forth a great sum of money and laid it at the feet of the Saint. The Holy Apostle, however, refused the money. He desired only the REPENTANCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ACHAIA AND PATRAS, and thus he declined to accept recompense. He said to Aegeates: "Our Teacher has said, "FREELY YOU RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE" [Matthew 10:8]. He then taught him many other things before he departed.
Many of the sick hastened to him and fell at his feet; and he healed them all. Some were blind, and, through the imposition of his hands, their eyes were opened; others suffered from leprosy and other horrible diseases, and he cleansed and cured them. Moreover, as many as believed, he baptized them in the sea, in the name of the All-Holy Trinity. The Christians themselves demolished the pagan temples and smashed the idols therein. In time, a magnificent church was erected. All hastened there to listen to the Saint’s sweet teachings, as he expounded to them the meaning of the Holy Scriptures and the Sacred Prophecies, demonstrating that Christ is the One God, Who came down from the heavens and became incarnate of the Holy Theotokos (Mother of God) and Ever-virgin Mary, FOR THE SALVATION OF THE HUMAN RACE.
Shortly thereafter, the Proconsul Aegeates was summoned to Rome to appear before Caesar to submit a report of his administration and to receive further orders. Now, Stratocles, his brother, was a man of wisdom who was a mathematician in Athens. In Aegeates’ absence he journeyed to Patras to act as administrator. Traveling with him was a trusted servant whom he loved as a brother. But at this time, the servant suffered a violent epileptic seizure. The greatly distressed Stratocles began to weep because no physician was able to cure him. When his sister-in-law Maximilla learned of this, she invited him to her home and said, "Brother-in-law, it is impossible to heal your servant, We have here in the city a foreign doctor, by the name of Adnrew, who heals every sickness, and charges no fee. The wise and learned Stratocles then summoned the Saint and as soon as the Holy Apostle entered the house–behold the miracle! –the demons departed and the servant recovered his health. When Stratocles beheld this miracle and disavowed his former religion, glorified the True God and he and Maximilla became Christians. They were baptized by the Holy Apostle Andrew and kept close to the Saint, desiring to hear his every word and teaching on the Christian Faith.
It was not long before Aegeates returned from Rome, however, Maximilla wished to avoid all association with him, but it was impossible for her to keep her secret that she converted to Christianity. Certain eunuchs and others told Aegeates, "From the day you departed for Rome until this present moment, she has not taken her regular meals, but has kept a strict fast… She utters blasphemies against our deities, prefering to worship the Christ preached by the stranger Andrew." He immediately ordered his guard to arrest the Saint, while he considered what manner of death he should inflict upon him.
At midnight, Stratocles and Maximilla went to prison, where the holy one was kept. As soon as they entered the cell they fell at the Saint’s feet imploring him to strengthen them and support them in the True Faith of Christ. The Holy Apostle exhorted them at length and afterward, he ordained Stratocles as Bishop of Old Patras. He then blessed them and sent them on their way in peace. The Proconsul, blinded with anger ordered that the Holy Apostle Andrew be crucified on a cross, his hands and feet bound. He, at first, did not wish him affixed by nails, lest he should die in but a short time, for he thought that by hanging him bound, he might subject him to greater tortures.
When the servants of the tyrant brought him to the place of crucifixion, the people assembled, crying out, ‘Wherein has this righteous man and friend of God sinned? Why are they leading him to crucifixion? Saint Andrew besought the people not to hinder his suffering. At the crucifixion site he removed his clothing and gave it to the torturers. They lifted him up on the cross, nailing and binding his hands and feet with cords; and thus they crucified him head-downward and suspended him. After some time Saint Andrew prayed to the Lord Christ, saying, "…Receive me, O Good Teacher, and do not permit me to be taken down from the cross, before Thou receivest my spirit!"
When he said this, a light like lightning from heaven illumined him in the sight of all, and shined round about him, so that the eye of corrupt man was unable to look upon him. This heavenly light shone round him for the space of half an hour, and when the light departed, the Holy Apostle surrendered his spirit and departed, amid brilliant light, to stand before the Lord.
Maximilla, a woman of noble lineage, who lived a virtuous and holy life, when Saint Andrew surrendered his spirit to the Lord, took down his body with great honor. She anointed his body with costly ointments and laid it in the tomb in which she herself had intended to be interred. When many years had passed, the holy relics of the Holy Apostle Andre were translated by he Martyr Artemios to Constantinople, commemorated by the Holy Church on the 29th of October, at the command of the holy Emperor Constantine the Great, and enshrined with those of the Holy Evangelist Luke and Saint Timothy, the disciple of the Holy Apostle Paul, in the most splendid Church of the Apostles, within the sacred table of oblation.
Through the prayers of Thine Apostles, O Christ God, do Thou
establish Thy faithful servants in Orthodoxy, and save us all. Amen. [Resources: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 