CATECHESIS & DAILY INSPIRATION
SAINT ANDREW, ARCHBISHOP OF CRETE (712)
Reflections and Daily Inspiration
“Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who suffer evil, as though you yourself were suffering.” 
- Hebrews 13:3
TODAY'S RECOMMENDATION
American Conversions
Orthodoxy in Los Angeles, California

FROM THE NEWS
Orthodox Catechesis for People in Prison

Before offering some thoughts on how OCPM conducts catechesis for people in prison I would like to take the opportunity to recognize those Orthodox clergy and laity who work tirelessly where they are able to help our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated. Despite their sacrifices there is still a difficulty which must be faced: the largest numbers of Orthodox Christians in parts of the United States where people in prison tend to be the fewest while those places with the largest numbers of people incarcerated tend to be in places where Orthodox Christians are fewest in numbers. It is out of these latter areas that OCPM receives the greatest number of inquiries about Orthodox Christianity. Many of these people are either requesting to be catechized or will end up asking to be taught the faith. How do we as OCPM respond to these requests for teaching?  

SAINT OF THE DAY

 JULY 17 / JULY 4
Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Crete (712)

Andrew was born in Damascus of Christian parents, and he was mute from birth until the age of seven. When his parents brought him to church and he received Holy Communion, he began to speak. Such is the power of Divine and Holy Communion. At age four- teen, Andrew went to Jerusalem and was ton- sured in the Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified. By his understanding and asceticism, he sur- passed many of the older monks and was an example to them. After a while the patriarch took him as his personal secretary. But when the Monothelite heresy—which held that the Lord Jesus did not possess a human will, but only a divine will—began to rage, the Sixth Ecumenical Council was convened in Constantinople, in the year 681 during the reign of Constantine IV. Theodore, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, was unable to attend the council but sent Andrew (at the time an archdeacon) as his representative. There Andrew displayed his splendid gifts, his oratory, his zeal for the Faith, and his rare prudence. Having assisted in strengthening the Orthodox Faith, Andrew returned to his duties in Jerusalem. Later he was elected and in- stalled as Archbishop of Crete. As archbishop, he was greatly loved by the people. Andrew was very zealous for Orthodoxy and vehemently resisted all heresies. Through his prayers he worked miracles, including driving the Saracens of the island of Crete. Andrew wrote many books of instruction, hymns and canons, of which the most renowned is the Great Canon of repentance, read on the Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent. His out- ward appearance was such that, “seeing his face and hearing his words flowing like honey, everyone found delight and mended their ways.” Finally, while returning from a sea journey to Constantinople, Andrew fore- told that his death would occur before he arrived in Crete. And so it happened. As the ship sailed near the island of Mitylene, this beacon of the Church finished his earthly life and his soul took up habitation in the Kingdom of Christ, in the year 712.