Description
Blessed Andrew the Fool-for-Christ was a 10th century fool-for-Christ, famed for his vision of the Protection of the Mother of God. He is commemorated by the Church on October 2.He was born a Scythian and came to live in Constantinople as the slave of Theognostus, a protospatharios (“first sword-bearer,” an honorific title) to Emperor Leo VI the Great (886-912). He was also the spiritual child of Nicephorus, a priest at Hagia Sophia during that time.
Blessed Andrew loved God’s Church and the Holy Scriptures, and he had a strong desire to devote himself totally to God. He took upon himself a very difficult and unusual ascetic feat of fool-for-Christ; that is, he acted as if he were insane.
Seeming to be insane, Andrew was brought to the Church of St. Anastasia for his care. There St. Anastasia appeared to him in a dream and encouraged him to continue his ascetic feat. He was driven off the church property because of his faked madness and had to live on the streets of the capital city, hungry and half-naked. For many years the saint endured mockery, insults, and beatings. He begged for alms and gave them away to the poor. The beggars to whom he gave his last coins despised him, but Andrew endured all his sufferings humbly and prayed for those who hurt him.
St. Andrew’s holy wisdom and extraordinary spiritual beauty were revealed when he removed his mask of folly. This occurred when talking to his spiritual father, a presbyter of Hagia Sophia, or to his disciple Epiphanius.
Additional Information
Weight | N/A |
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Dimensions | 11cm x 8cm x 1.2cm, 15cm x 11cm x 1.7cm, 21cm x 15cm x 1.7cm, 27cm x 21cm x 1.7cm, 42cm x 32cm x 1.7cm |
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