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What we have all, both presbyters and deacons of the churches of Achaia, beheld with our eyes, we have written to all the churches established in the name of Christ Jesus, both in the east and west, north and south.  Peace to you, and to all who believe in one God, perfect Trinity, true Father unbegotten, true Son only-begotten, true Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father, and abiding in the Son, in order that there may be shown one Holy Spirit subsisting in the Father and Son in precious Godhead.  This faith we have learned from the blessed Andrew, the apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose passion also we, having seen it set forth before our eyes, have not hesitated to give an account of, according to the degree of ability we have.

Accordingly the proconsul Ægeates,²²¹²

2212 Another reading is Ægeas.  [This is the reading of the Bodleian ms., already frequently referred to (see p. 355).  In most cases its text is followed in the Latin version collated by Tischendorf.—R.]

To whom Ægeates said:  Art thou Andrew, who destroyest the temples of the gods, and persuadest men about the religion which, having lately made its appearance, the emperors of the Romans have given orders to suppress?

The blessed Andrew said:  The emperors of the Romans have never recognised the truth.  And this the Son of God, who came on account of the salvation of men, manifestly teaches—that these idols are not only not gods, but also most shameful demons,²²¹³

2213 Deut. xxxii. 17; 1 Cor. x. 20, 21.

Ægeates said:  These are superfluous and vain words:  as for your Jesus, for proclaiming these things to the Jews they nailed him to the tree of the cross.

The blessed Andrew answering, said:  Oh, if thou wouldst recognise the mystery of the cross, with what reasonable love the Author²²¹⁴

2214 Or, Prince.

Ægeates said:  Seeing that, betrayed by his own disciple, and seized by the Jews, he was brought before the procurator, and according to their request was nailed up by the procurator’s soldiers, in what way dost thou say that he willingly endured the tree of the cross?

The holy Andrew said:  For this reason I say willingly, since I was with Him when he was betrayed by His disciple.  For before He was betrayed, He spoke to us to the effect that He should be betrayed and crucified for the salvation of men, and foretold that He should rise again on the third day.  To whom my brother Peter said,²²¹⁵

2215 Matt. xvi. 22.

2216 John x. 18.

2217 Matt. xxvi. 21.

Ægeates said:  I wonder that thou, being a sensible man, shouldst wish to uphold him on any terms whatever; for, whether willingly or unwillingly, all the same, thou admittest that he was fastened to the cross.

The blessed Andrew said:  This is what I said, if now thou apprehendest, that great is the mystery of the cross, which, if thou wishest, as is likely, to hear, attend to me.²²¹⁸

2218 Another reading is:  This is what I spoke of, as you know— that great is the mystery of the cross; and if so be that you are willing to listen, I will reveal it.

Ægeates said:  A mystery it cannot be called, but a punishment.

The blessed Andrew said:  This punishment is the mystery of man’s restoration.  If thou wilt listen with any attention, thou wilt prove it.

Ægeates said:  I indeed will hear patiently; but thou, unless thou submissively obey me, shalt receive²²¹⁹

2219 Perhaps we should read ἀναδείξει, shalt exhibit, for ἀναδέξει.

The blessed Andrew answered:  If I had been afraid of the tree of the cross, I should not have proclaimed the glory of the cross.

Ægeates said:  Thy speech is foolish, because thou proclaimest that the cross is not a punishment, and through thy foolhardiness thou art not afraid of the punishment of death.

The holy Andrew said:  It is not through foolhardiness, but through faith, that I am not afraid of the punishment of death; for the death of sins²²²⁰

2220 Two mss., of sinners.

Ægeates said:  That which is shown to have perished is for renewing.  Do you mean that my soul has perished, that thou makest me come to the renewing of it through the faith, I know not what, of which thou hast spoken?

The blessed Andrew answered:  This it is which I desired time to learn, which also I shall teach and make manifest, that though the souls of men are destroyed, they shall be renewed through the mystery of the cross.  For the first man through the tree of transgression brought in death; and it was necessary for the human race, that through the suffering of the tree, death, which had come into the world, should be driven out.  And since the first man, who brought death into the world through the transgression of the tree, had been produced from the spotless earth, it was necessary that the Son of God should be begotten a perfect man from the spotless virgin, that He should restore eternal life, which men had lost through Adam, and should cut off²²²¹

2221 Or, shut out.

Ægeates said:  With these words thou shalt be able to lead away those who shall believe in thee; but unless thou hast come to grant me this, that thou offer sacrifices to the almighty gods, I shall order thee, after having been scourged, to be fastened to that very cross which thou commendest.

The blessed Andrew said:  To God Almighty, who alone is true, I bring sacrifice day by day; not the smoke of incense, nor the flesh of bellowing bulls, nor the blood of goats, but sacrificing a spotless lamb day by day on the altar of the cross; and though all the people of the faithful partake of His body and drink His blood, the Lamb that has been sacrificed remains after this entire and alive.  Truly, therefore, is He sacrificed, and truly is His body eaten by the people, and His blood is likewise drunk; nevertheless, as I have said, He remains entire, and spotless, and alive.

Ægeates said:  How can this be?

The blessed Andrew said:  If thou wouldest know, take the form of a disciple, that thou mayst learn what thou art inquiring after.

Ægeates said:  I will exact of thee through tortures the gift of this knowledge.

The blessed Andrew declared:  I wonder that thou, being an intelligent man, shouldest fall into²²²²

2222 Lit., be rolled towards.

Ægeates said:  And by what means does the lamb remain in his kingdom after he has been slain and eaten by all the people, as thou hast said?

The blessed Andrew said:  If thou believest with all thy heart, thou shalt be able to learn:  but if thou believest not, thou shalt not by any means attain to the idea of such truth.

Then Ægeates, enraged, ordered him to be shut up in prison, where, when he was shut up, a multitude of the people came together to him from almost all the province, so that they wished to kill Ægeates, and by breaking down the doors of the prison to set free the blessed Andrew the apostle.

Them the blessed Andrew admonished in these words, saying:  Do not stir up the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ into seditious and devilish uproar.  For my Lord, when He was betrayed, endured it with all patience; He did not strive, He did not cry out, nor in the streets did any one hear Him crying out.²²²³

2223 Matt. xii. 19.

2224 Comp. 2 Cor. iv. 17.

The holy Apostle Andrew having admonished the people with these and such like words through the whole night, when the light of day dawned, Ægeates having sent for him, ordered the blessed Andrew to be brought to him; and having sat down upon the tribunal, he said:  I have thought that thou, by thy reflection during the night, hast turned away thy thoughts from folly, and given up thy commendation of Christ that thou mightst be able to be with us, and not throw away the pleasures of life; for it is folly to come for any purpose to the suffering of the cross, and to give oneself up to most shameful punishments and burnings.

The holy Andrew answered:  I shall be able to have joy with thee, if thou wilt believe in Christ, and throw away the worship of idols; for Christ has sent me to this province, in which I have acquired for Christ a people not the smallest.

Ægeates said:  For this reason I compel thee to make a libation, that these people who have been deceived by thee may forsake the vanity of thy teaching, and may themselves offer grateful libations to the gods; for not even one city has remained in Achaia in which their temples²²²⁵

2225 Or, their sacred rites.

The holy Andrew said:  Listen, O son of death and chaff made ready for eternal burnings,²²²⁶

2226 Comp. Matt. iii. 12.

Then the proconsul Ægeates, being enraged, ordered the apostle of Christ to be afflicted by tortures.  Being stretched out, therefore, by seven times three²²²⁷

2227 Another reading is, seven quaternions.

The holy Andrew said:  I am a slave of the cross of Christ, and I ought rather to pray to attain to the trophy of the cross than to be afraid; but for thee is laid up eternal torment, which, however, thou mayst escape after thou hast tested my endurance, if thou wilt believe in my Christ.  For I am afflicted about thy destruction, and I am not disturbed about my own suffering.  For my suffering takes up a space of one day, or two at most; but thy torment for endless ages shall never come to a close.  Wherefore henceforward cease from adding to thy miseries, and lighting up everlasting fire for thyself.

Ægeates then being enraged, ordered the blessed Andrew to be fastened to the cross.²²²⁸

2228 One of themss. [the Bodleian] has here:  Giving orders to the centurions that he should be bound hand and foot as if he were stretched on the rack, and not pierced with nails, that he might not die soon, but be tormented with long-continuing torture.

2229 Another reading is:  I am attached to thee.

And having thus spoken, the blessed Andrew, standing on the ground, and looking earnestly upon the cross, stripped himself and gave his clothes to the executioners, having urged the brethren that the executioners should come and do what had been commanded them; for they were standing at some distance.  And they having come up, lifted him on the cross; and having stretched his body across with ropes, they only bound his feet, but did not sever his joints,²²³⁰

2230 The original is obscure.  The meaning seems to be that he was tied only, not nailed.  The nailing, however, seems to have been an essential part of the punishment of crucifixion.

2231 It was common to let loose wild beasts on the crucified (Sueton., Nero, 49).

And a great multitude of the brethren stood by, nearly twenty thousand; and having beheld the executioners standing off, and that they had done to the blessed one nothing of what those who were hanged up suffer, they thought that they would again hear something from him; for assuredly, as he was hanging, he moved his head smiling.  And Stratocles inquired of him:  Why art thou smiling, Andrew, servant of God?  Thy laughter makes us mourn and weep, because we are deprived of thee.  And the blessed Andrew answered him:  Shall I not laugh at all, my son Stratocles, at the empty stratagem of Ægeates, through which he thinks to take vengeance upon us?  We have nothing to do with him and his plans.  He cannot hear; for if he could, he would be aware, having learned it by experience, that a man of Jesus is unpunished.²²³²

2232 Instead of this paragraph, on ms. [the Bodleian] has:  And there ran up a great multitude, about twenty thousand in number, among whom was the brother of Ægeas, Stratocles by name; and he cried out with the people, It is an unjust judgment.  And the holy Andrew, hitting upon the thoughts of the believers, exhorted them to endure the temporary trial, saying that the suffering counted for nothing when compared with the eternal recompense.

And having thus spoken, he discoursed to them all in common, for the people ran together enraged at the unjust judgment of Ægeates:  Ye men standing by me, and women, and children, and elders, bond and free, and as many as will hear; I beseech you, forsake all this life, ye who have for my sake assembled here; and hasten to take upon you my life, which leads to heavenly things, and once for all despise all temporary things, confirming the purposes of those who believe in Christ.  And he exhorted them all, teaching that the sufferings of this transitory life are not worthy to be compared with the future recompense of the eternal life.

And the multitude hearing what was said by him, did not stand off from the place, and the blessed Andrew continued the rather to say to them more than he had spoken.  And so much was said by him, that a space of three days and nights was taken up, and no one was tired and went away from him.  And when also on the fourth day they beheld his nobleness, and the unweariedness of his intellect, and the multitude of his words, and the serviceableness of his exhortations, and the stedfastness of his soul, and the sobriety of his spirit, and the fixedness of his mind, and the perfection of his reason, they were enraged against Ægeates; and all with one accord hastened to the tribunal, and cried out against Ægeates, who was sitting, saying:  What is thy judgment, O proconsul?  Thou hast judged wickedly; thy awards are impious.  In what has the man done wrong; what evil has he done?  The city has been put in an uproar; thou grievest us all; do not betray Cæsar’s city.  Grant willingly to the Achaians a just man; grant willingly to us a God-fearing man; do not put to death a godly man.  Four days he has been hanging, and is alive; having eaten nothing, he has filled us all.  Take down the man from the cross, and we shall all seek after wisdom; release the man, and to all Achaia will mercy be shown.  It is not necessary that he should suffer this, because, though hanging, he does not cease proclaiming the truth.

And when the proconsul refused to listen to them, at first indeed signing with his hand to the crowd to take themselves off, they began to be emboldened against him, being in number about twenty thousand.  And the proconsul having beheld that they had somehow become maddened, afraid that something frightful would befall him, rose up from the tribunal and went away with them, having promised to set free the blessed Andrew.  And some went on before to tell the apostle the cause for which they came to the place.

While all the crowd, therefore, was exulting that the blessed Andrew was going to be set free, the proconsul having come up, and all the brethren rejoicing along with Maximilla,²²³³

2233 One ms. calls her the proconsul’s wife.  [So Pseudo-Abdias; but the Greek mss., collated by Tischendorf, do not give this reading.—R.]

2234 i.e., having nothing to do with us.

2235 ὁμόνοιαι.

When, therefore, he attempted to come near the tree of the cross, so as to release the blessed Andrew, with all the city applauding him, the holy Andrew said with a loud voice:  Do not suffer Andrew, bound upon Thy tree, to be released, O Lord; do not give me who am in Thy mystery to the shameless devil.  O Jesus Christ, let not Thine adversary release me, who have been hanged by Thy favour; O Father, let this insignificant man no longer humble him who has known Thy greatness.  The executioners, therefore, putting out their hands, were not able at all to touch him.  Others, then, and others endeavoured to release him, and no one at all was able to come near him; for their arms were benumbed.

Then the blessed Andrew, having adjured the people, said:  I entreat you earnestly, brethren, that I may first make one prayer to my Lord.  So then set about releasing me.  All the people therefore kept quiet because of the adjuration.  Then the blessed Andrew, with a loud cry, said:  Do not permit, O Lord, Thy servant at this time to be removed from Thee; for it is time that my body be committed to the earth, and Thou shalt order me to come to Thee.  Thou who givest eternal life, my Teacher whom I have loved, whom on this cross I confess, whom I know, whom I possess, receive me, O Lord; and as I have confessed Thee and obeyed Thee, so now in this word hearken to me; and, before my body come down from the cross, receive me to Thyself, that through my departure there may be access to Thee of many of my kindred, finding rest for themselves in Thy majesty.

When, therefore, he had said this, he became in the sight of all glad and exulting; for an exceeding splendour like lightning coming forth out of heaven shone down upon him, and so encircled him, that in consequence of such brightness mortal eyes could not look upon him at all.  And the dazzling light remained about the space of half an hour.  And when he had thus spoken and glorified the Lord still more, the light withdrew itself, and he gave up the ghost, and along with the brightness itself he departed to the Lord in giving Him thanks.

And after the decease of the most blessed Andrew the apostle, Maximilla being the most powerful of the notable women,²²³⁶

2236 Lit., females.

Ægeates had been very importunate with her, and promised that he would make her mistress of his wealth; but not having been able to persuade her, he was greatly enraged, and was determined to make a public charge against all the people, and to send to Cæsar an accusation against both Maximilla and all the people.  And while he was arranging these things in the presence of his officers, at the dead of night he rose up, and unseen by all his people, having been tormented by the devil, he fell down from a great height, and rolling into the midst of the market-place of the city, breathed his last.

And this was reported to his brother Stratocles; and he sent his servants, having told them that they should bury him among those who had died a violent death.  But he sought nothing of his substance, saying:  Let not my Lord Jesus Christ, in whom I have believed, suffer me to touch anything whatever of the goods of my brother, that the condemnation of him who dared to cut off the apostle of the Lord may not disgrace me.

These things were done in the province of Achaia, in the city of Patras on the day before the kalends of December,²²³⁷

2237 i.e., 30th November, St. Andrew’s day.

2238 One ms. thus ends:  These things were done in the province of Achaia, in the city of Patras, on the day before the kalends of December; where also his glorious good deeds are shown even to this day; and so great fear came upon all, that no one remained who did not believe in God our Saviour, who wishes all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  To Him be glory to ages of ages.  Amen.  [This is the ending of the Latin version (in Tischendorf); the Bodleian ms. has a similar conclusion, but the text is differently arranged.—R.]

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