Andrew of Constantinople (Andrew the Fool-for-Christ or Andrew, the Fool; gr, Ἀνδρέας ὁ Σαλός; died in 936) is considered a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

, and is revered as a

Fool for Christ Foolishness for Christ ( el, διά Χριστόν σαλότητα, cu, оуродъ, юродъ) refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an ascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting soci ...

. Andrew, a

Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

by birth, was a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

of Theognostus, who was serving as a bodyguard in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

.Orthodox Church in USA
/ref> Later, he decided to become a

, living out his goal with humility and patience. According to certain sources, Andrew had a vision of the Most Holy

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

in the Blachernae church of Constantinople, while the city was surrounded by enemy troops (by some sources, Muslim Arabs). Andrew and his disciple Epiphanus testified that they saw the

Holy Virgin Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

surrounded by many angels and Saints, praying and extending her

Omophorion In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic liturgical tradition, the ''omophorion'' ( grc-gre, ὠμοφόριον, meaning " omethingborne on the shoulders"; Slavonic: омофоръ, ''omofor'') is the distinguishing vestment of a bishop an ...

(protection) over the faithful. After this vision, Constantinople was saved when its attackers retreated. That vision and the avoidance of Constantinople's destruction that was attributed to it inspired the creation of one of the most famous Eastern Orthodox holidays: the feast of the

Protection of the Theotokos The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a Christianity, Christian feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches on October 1 (Juli ...

. Andrew died in 936. His memory is commemorated by

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

communities on October 15 (Oct. 2 old calendar). The earliest manuscript of his Greek

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

, the '' Life of Andrew the Fool'', is a quire in Munich in a 10th-century

uncial script Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, p. 494. script (written entirely in capital letters) commonly used from the 4th t ...

. The work was also translated into Georgian and Slavonic.

References

External links

Andrew the Fool-for-Christ in Orthodoxwiki
*The Greek, tenth-century, vita of Saint Andrew the Fool (BHG 115z) with English translation: L. Rydén, The Life of St Andrew the Fool
vol. 1

vol. 2
(Uppsala 1995) - Open access. {{DEFAULTSORT:Andrew Of Constantinople Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 936 deaths 10th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Marian visionaries Angelic visionaries

See also

References

External links