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| St. Andrew Stratelates and his Companions (Feast Day - August 19) |
Verses
To Andrew
Andrew was a true general,
He was beheaded and his manliness endures.
To Those Martyred With Him
Standing with the beheaded mass of soldiers in a pool of blood,
Were You who produced the pool of water.
On the nineteenth Andrew was beheaded radiantly.
During the reign of the irreverent Maximianus, in the year 289, he was a soldier in the East under the commander-in-chief of all the royal orders, whose name was Antiochus. He was sent by this commander-in-chief of his with other fellow soldiers to fight against the Persians, for they had gone beyond their border and entered into the border of the Romans, where they laid siege and plundered. Having therefore been sent there, he called upon Christ, and he urged his companions to also call upon Christ, and in doing so they defeated the Persians, banishing and destroying them. With this unhoped for victory, he converted to the faith of Christ his companion soldiers.
The Saint and his companions were accused before the commander-in-chief Antiochus for this. They all therefore stood before him and confessed the faith of Christ. For this they laid Saint Andrew down over a fiery hot iron bed, while they nailed the hands of his companions onto four-angled wood. Antiochus then ordered for the Saints to be banished by a thousand soldiers beyond the borders of that place, but Saint Andrew catechized them and converted them also to the faith of Christ. When Antiochus heard about this, he hunted them all down and had them return, and ordered for them to be killed, together with the companions of the Saint, as well as the all-glorious Andrew, and in this way they all received the crown of the contest.
Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fifth Tone
You renounced the glory of earthly rank and inherited the kingdom of heaven; you adorned your incorruptible crown as with beautiful stones. You led an army of martyrs to Christ, and with the angels in the never-fading light you found Christ the never-setting sun. Together with those who suffered with you, holy general Andrew, ever pray to Him that He may save our souls.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Standing before the Lord in prayer like a star near the sun, you were filled with ineffable joy beholding your desire: the treasure of the kingdom. You sing without ceasing to the immortal King together with the angels throughout the ages. With them, general Andrew, unceasingly pray for us all.