September 1 / August 19

1. The Holy Martyr Andrew Stratelates and 2,593 Soldiers with him, in Cilicia (284-305)

Andrew was an officer, a tribune, in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor Maximian. He was a Syrian by birth and served in Syria. When the Persians menaced the Roman Empire with their military, Andrew was entrusted to command the imperial army in defense against the enemy. Therefore, Andrew was promoted to the rank of general—“Stratelates.” Secretly a Christian, even though he was not baptized, Andrew trusted in the Living God and chose only the best of the many soldiers to enter into battle. Before the battle, he told his soldiers that if they would call upon the help of the one, true God—Christ the Lord—their enemies would scatter as dust before them. Truly, all the soldiers were filled with zeal for Andrew and his faith, and invoked Christ for assistance; then they made the assault. The Persian army was utterly destroyed. When the victorious Andrew returned to Antioch, envious men accused Andrew of being a Christian, and the imperial deputy summoned him to court. Andrew openly confessed his unwavering faith in Christ. After bitterly torturing him, the deputy threw Andrew into prison and wrote to the emperor in Rome. Knowing the respect in which the people and the army held Andrew, the emperor ordered the deputy to free Andrew, and to seek another opportunity and reason to kill him. Through God’s revelation Andrew learned of the emperor’s command, and, taking with him his faithful soldiers, 2,593 in number, he departed to Tarsus in Cilicia, where all were baptized by Bishop Peter. Persecuted even there by the imperial authorities,  Andrew and his detachment withdrew further into Armenian Mount Taurus. The Roman army caught up with them there while they were at prayer in a ravine, and all of them were beheaded. None of them tried to defend themselves, but all were desirous of a martyr’s death for Christ. On this spot, where the stream of the martyr’s blood flowed, a spring of healing water burst forth, which cured many people of every disease. Bishop Peter secretly brought his people and honorably buried the bodies of the martyrs where they had been slain. Dying honorably, they were all crowned with wreaths of glory and took up their habitation in the Kingdom of Christ our Lord.

2.  The Venerable Theophanes, New Wonderworker, of Macedonia Theophanes was born in As a young man, he left all and went to Mount Athos, where he was tonsured a monk in the community of Dochiariou. He was an example to all the monks in fasting, prayer, all-night vigils, and depriving himself of all that was unnecessary. Because of this, he was eventually elected abbot. Later, because of a disagreement with the monks, he and his nephew left Mount Athos for Berea in Macedonia, where he established a monastery in honor of the All-holy Theotokos. When this monastery blossomed with spiritual life, Theophanes entrusted its governance to his nephew. He then went to Naousa, where he established another monastery in honor of the Holy Archangels. Theophanes died peacefully in the fifteenth century. His miracle-working relics repose in Naousa, and even now manifest the great power of God.

3. The Holy Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla, of Palestine (304)

All three were martyred for Christ during the reign of the wicked Emperor Diocletian. Timothy was burned alive, and Agapius and Thecla were thrown to wild beasts.

• Pitirim, bishop of Perm (1455).
• Uncovering of the relics (1646) of Gennadius, abbot, of Kostroma (1565).
• “Donskoy” Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos (1591).

HYMN OF PRAISE

The Holy Martyr Andrew Stratelates

Nature sang on Mount Taurus,
But resounded without an audible human response,
Until one day the mountain shook,
And a new sound reverberated throughout it.
Then the mountain stilled its age-old echo,
To hear something new, which it had not in ages heard.
There, Andrew’s brave detachment met their end;
There, the wolves slew the innocent lambs.
Andrew saved the Roman Empire from the Persians,
And now the Roman army thundered against him.
Andrew knelt on the earth with his two thousand companions;
He gave good counsel to his friends:
“Now is the favorable hour, now is the day of salvation—
Our separation from earthly life.
In humility, let us kneel before God,
And let us warmly thank Him for so much good,
And especially, brethren, for a martyr’s death,
Without anger or railing against the executioner’s hand.”
So Andrew spoke, and to their knees they fell,
And the two thousand men began to pray.
The cruel persecutors brandished their swords,
Choirs of angels shone on the mountaintop,
And the gates of Paradise opened in Heaven,
For Holy Andrew, the glorious Stratelates,
And his army, who defeated the enemy
And shed their honorable blood for Christ.

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