Andrew of Crete(1)
Andrew of Crete (c.660–740), monk and archbishop. Born at Damascus, he became a monk at Jerusalem. In 685 he was sent by its Patriarch to Constantinople to attest their acceptance of the sixth ecumenical council, against monothelitism. Ordained deacon at Constantinople, he was placed in charge of an orphanage and a hospital for old men. In c.700 he was appointed archbishop of Gortyna (Crete). After a short lapse into monothelitism (see Maximus the Confessor), he became a prolific preacher and hymnographer. Some of the kanon which he introduced to the Byzantine Liturgy are still sung, while some of his homilies are still read in the breviary. He died at Erisso, on the island of Lesbos. Feast: 4 July.
Bibliography
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- AA.SS. Iul. II (1747), 42–7; works in P.G., xcvii. 805–1304; Eng. tr. of the ‘Great Canon’ by D. J. Chitty (1957); O.D.C.C., p. 51; Bibl. SS., i. 1142
