Agios Andreas – Handmade Hagiography – Mount Athos

Description Handmade Hagiography On natural linden wood by the hands of the hagiographer, the saintly monk Father Vasilios, who is buried in the Holy Cell of Agios Anthony of the Holy Monastery of Philotheus.. An exquisite aged iconography depicting Saint Andrew, crafted entirely by hand. This specific iconography has been crafted by the Agiorite Father Vasilios, based on Byzantine iconography standards. The depiction of the Saint has been painted entirely by hand. Coating the hagiography with pure beeswax ensures that the colors of the image remain unchanged over time. Andreas, a fisherman by profession, came from Bethsaida in Galilee and was the brother of the Apostle Peter. Because he was the first in the group of disciples called by the Lord, he was called Protocletus. Andreas (together with John the Evangelist) were in the beginning disciples of John the Forerunner who one day, showing them Jesus, said to them “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. The two simple fishermen were so moved, that without any hesitation or reservation they immediately left their teacher and followed Jesus. The Apostle Andrew preached in Bithynia, Black Sea, Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus. Finally, he ended up in Achaia where with his teaching and his miraculous healings of the sick he irritated the proconsul and with the urging of pagan priests he arrested Andreas and crucified him on an X-shaped cross.