Stories & Legends
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How St. Andrew Punished a Lustful Mother
A certain Christian youth told Saint Andrew in secret: “My mother, seeing my good figure, tried to make me do wrong with her; and when I absolutely refused, she went to the judge and accused me of that very crime. Pray for me and save me from an unjust death, because I will not defend myself. I would rather die than expose my mother to such shame.”
So the young man was summoned before the judge, and Andrew went with him. The mother insistently charged her son with wanting to violate her, and the son, despite being asked several times whether this was true, said not a word.
Then Andrew spoke to the mother: “0 cruelest of women, your own lust makes you willing to send your only son to death!”
The woman said to the judge: “Sir, my son attached himself to this man after failing to have his way with me.”
This made the judge very angry, so he ordered the young man to be put in a sack smeared with pitch and tar and thrown into the river, and Andrew to be kept in jail until he, the judge, decided on a form of torture that would kill him.
But Andrew prayed, whereupon a stupendous clap of thunder terrified them all, a huge earthquake threw them to the ground, and the woman, struck by lightning, shriveled up and crumbled to ashes.
The others begged the Apostle to pray that they might be spared. Andrew prayed for them, and the storm fell calm. At this the judge believed, as did his whole household.
The dissolute mother accused both her son
& St. Andrew before the judge
Then Andrew spoke to the mother: “0 cruelest of women, your own lust makes you willing to send your only son to death!”
The woman said to the judge: “Sir, my son attached himself to this man after failing to have his way with me.”
This made the judge very angry, so he ordered the young man to be put in a sack smeared with pitch and tar and thrown into the river, and Andrew to be kept in jail until he, the judge, decided on a form of torture that would kill him.
But Andrew prayed, whereupon a stupendous clap of thunder terrified them all, a huge earthquake threw them to the ground, and the woman, struck by lightning, shriveled up and crumbled to ashes.
The others begged the Apostle to pray that they might be spared. Andrew prayed for them, and the storm fell calm. At this the judge believed, as did his whole household.
Jacobus de Voragine,
The Golden Legend, p. 39.
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Posted March 1, 2025
Posted March 1, 2025
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