Holy Apostle Quadratus

Life

One of the Seventy. A disciple of the great Apostles. He preached the Gospel in Athens and was bishop first in Athens after Saint Publius, and then in the city of Magnesia. He was very learned in worldly wisdom and rich in the grace of the Holy Spirit. His biographer says of him: he was as a morning star amid the clouds (Sirach 8:6); the clouds were the dark Hellenic paganism, without the light of godliness; and the holy Apostle Quadratus through the word of God shone upon the Hellenes as a great light, illumined the darkness, overthrew their foul sacrifices, shattered their idols, and destroyed the temples of the demons by prayer. But the darkness always hates the light; and so the pagans came to hate holy Quadratus, and first stoned him, as the Jews had once stoned Saint Stephen, and then cast him into prison, giving him no bread at all until he gave up his holy soul and departed to the Kingdom of Christ his God. Saint Quadratus wrote an apology for Christianity and presented it to the Emperor Hadrian. That apology so moved the pagan emperor that he ordered Christians not to be persecuted without specific crimes. Saint Quadratus suffered around the year 130. He was buried in Magnesia, where he also suffered.

From the Hymn of Praise

Holy Quadratus, like the morning star,Poured forth the light of the Holy Gospel,Poured forth its rays through the thick darkness,And grace upon desolate hearts.