He was born in Syria. During the reign of Emperor Maximian, he led the Roman army in the fight against the Persians and was then given the rank of general, stratilatos. A secret Christian, he selected only the best soldiers and told them that if they all called on the one God for help, they would win. And so they did. But the envious accused him of being a Christian. The imperial governor tortured him and threw him into prison, but the emperor, knowing Andrew's reputation among the people, ordered him to release him and to wait for another opportunity to kill him. Learning of this, General Andrew took his faithful soldiers, 2,593 of them, and went to Tarsus of Cilicia, where Bishop Peter baptized them all. Then they took refuge in the Armenian mountain of Tavros, where they all, like innocent lambs, surrendered to the Roman army for slaughter.

Venerable Theophanes. Holy Martyrs Timothy, Agapius and Thecla.