Andrew the Apostle

"St Andrew" redirects here, for other uses, see St Andrews (disambiguation).

Saint Andrew
Icon of the Apostle Andrew
Apostle
Born	Bethsaida
Died	Patras, upon an X shaped cross
Venerated in	All Christianity
Major shrine	Church of St. Andreas at Patras, with his relics
Feast	November 30
Attributes	Old man with long (in the East often untidy) white hair and beard, holding the Gospel in right hand, sometimes leaning on a saltire cross
Patronage	Scotland, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Romania, Amalfi and Luqa - Malta and Prussia, Army Rangers, mariners, fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, singers, performers,

Saint Andrew (Greek: Ανδρέας, Andreas), called in the Orthodox tradition Protocletos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the elder brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" (from Greek : ανδρεία, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century B.C. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him.

In the Christian Bible, St. Andrew, the Apostle, son of Jonah, or John (Matthew 16:17; John 1:42), was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee (John 1:44). He was brother of Simon Peter (Matthew 10:2; John 1:40). Both were fishermen (Matthew 4:18; Mark 1:16), and at the beginning of Jesus's public life occupied the same house at Capharnaum (Mark 1:21, 29).

From the Gospel of John we learn that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, whose testimony first led him and John the Evangelist to follow Jesus (John 1:35-40). Andrew at once recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and hastened to introduce Him to his brother, Peter, (John 1:41). Thenceforth the two brothers were disciples of Christ. On a subsequent occasion, prior to the final call to the apostolate, they were called to a closer companionship, and then they left all things to follow Jesus (Luke 5:11; Matthew 4:19-20; Mark 1:17-18).

He lived at Capernaum (Mark 1:29). In the gospels he is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus (Mark 13:3; John 6:8, 12:22); in Acts there is only a bare mention of him (1:13). Both he and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade, hence the tradition that Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that He will make them "fishers of men" (Greek: ἁλιείς ἀνθρώπων, halieis anthropon).

Eusebius quotes Origen as saying Andrew preached in Asia Minor and in Scythia, along the Black Sea as far as the Volga and Kiev. Hence he became a patron saint of Romania and Russia. According to tradition, he founded the See of Byzantium in AD 38, installing Stachys as bishop (the only bishopric in that neighbourhood before that time had been established at Heraclea). This See would later develop into the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Andrew is recognized as its Patron Saint.

He is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at Patras (Patrae) in Achaea, on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross) and commonly known as "St. Andrew's cross", at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross on which Christ was crucified. Saint Andrew is the patron of Patras. According to tradition his relics were moved from Patras to Constantinople, and thence to St. Andrews (see below). Local legends say that the relics were sold to the Romans. The head of the saint, considered as one of the treasures of St. Peter's Basilica, was given by the Byzantine despot Thomas Palaeologus to Pope Pius II in 1461. In recent years, the relics were kept in the Vatican City, but were sent back to Patras by decision of the Pope Paul VI in 1964. The relics, which consist of the small finger and part of the top of the cranium of Saint Andrew, have since that time been kept in the Church of St. Andrew at Patras in a special tomb, and are reverenced in a special ceremony every November 30.

St. Andrew Basilica at Patras, where the saint's relics are kept, said to be erected over the place of his martyrdom

The apocryphal Acts of Andrew, mentioned by Eusebius, Epiphanius and others, is among a disparate group of Acts of the Apostles that were traditionally attributed to Leucius Charinus. "These Acts may be the latest of the five leading apostolic romances. They belong to the third century: ca. A.D. 260," was the opinion of M.R. James, who edited them in 1924. The Acts, as well as a Gospel of St. Andrew, appear among rejected books in the Decretum Gelasianum connected with the name of Pope Gelasius I. The Acts of Andrew was edited and published by Constantin von Tischendorf in the Acta Apostolorum apocrypha (Leipzig, 1821), putting it for the first time into the hands of an Irish professional reader. Another version of the Andrew legend is found in the Passio Andreae, published by Max Bonnet (Supplementum II Codicis apocryphi, Paris, 1895).

Relics

The purported relics of Andrew are kept at St. Andrew Basilica, Patras, Greece; Sant'Andrea Duome, Amalfi, Italy; St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland; and St. Andrew & St. Albert Church, Warsaw, Poland.

The Italian tradition

The shrine to Saint Andreas in Basilica di San Pietro

St. Jerome wrote that the relics of St Andrew were taken from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor in 357. In 1208, the relics were taken to Amalfi, Italy, by Pedro, cardinal of Capua, a native of Amalfi. In the 15th century, the head of St Andrew was brought to Rome, where it became enshrined in one of the four central piers of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In September 1964, as a gesture of good will toward the Greek Orthodox Church, Pope Paul VI returned a finger and part of the head to the church in Patras. The Amalfi cathedral, dedicated to St. Andrew (as is the town itself), contains a tomb in its crypt that it maintains still contains the rest of the relics of the apostle.

Crucifixion of St. Andrew

Romanian tradition

Romanians believe that Saint Andrew (named Sfântul Apostol Andrei) was the first who preached Christianity and followed God in Scythia Minor, modern Dobrogea, to the native people of the Dacians (ancestors of the Romanians). It is the official standpoint of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Hippolyte of Antioch (died ~AD 250) in his On apostles, Origen in the third book of his Commentaries on the Genesis (AD 254), Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (AD 340), and other different sources, like the Usaard's Martyrdom written between 845-865, Jacobus de Voragine in Golden Legend (~1260), mention that Saint Andrew preached in Scythia Minor. There are toponyms and numerous very old traditions (like carols) related to Saint Andrew, many of them having probably a pre-Christian substratum. There exists a cave where it is supposed he preached. The mysterious tradition of baptism which happens in the village of Copuzu is also linked by some ethnologs with the christianization campaign made by the Apostle.

Scottish legends

About the middle of the tenth century, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought under supernatural guidance from Constantinople to the place where the modern town of St. Andrews stands today (Pictish, Muckross; Gaelic, Cill Rìmhinn).

The Saltire (or "St. Andrew's Cross") is the national flag of Scotland

The oldest surviving manuscripts are two: one is among the manuscripts collected by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and willed to Louis XIV, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, the other in the Harleian Mss in the British Library, London. They state that the relics of Andrew were brought by one Regulus to the Pictish king Óengus mac Fergusa (729–761). The only historical Regulus (Riagail or Rule) — the name is preserved by the tower of St. Rule — was an Irish monk expelled from Ireland with Saint Columba; his date, however, is c. 573–600. There are good reasons for supposing that the relics were originally in the collection of Acca, bishop of Hexham, who took them into Pictish country when he was driven from Hexham (c. 732), and founded a see, not, according to tradition, in Galloway, but on the site of St. Andrews. The connection made with Regulus is, therefore, due in all probability to the desire to date the foundation of the church at St. Andrews as early as possible.

Another legend says that in the late eighth century, during a joint battle with the English, King Ungus (either the Óengus mac Fergusa mentioned previously or Óengus II of the Picts (820–834)) saw a cloud shaped like a saltire, and declared Andrew was watching over them, and if they won by his grace, then he would be their patron saint. However, there is evidence Andrew was venerated in Scotland before this.

Andrew's connection with Scotland may have been reinforced following the Synod of Whitby, when the Celtic Church felt that Columba had been "outranked" by Peter and that Peter's older brother would make a higher ranking patron. The 1320 Declaration of Arbroath cites Scotland's conversion to Christianity by Saint Andrew, "the first to be an Apostle".

Numerous parish churches in the Church of Scotland and congregations of other Christian churches in Scotland are named after Saint Andrew. The national church of the Scottish people in Rome, Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi is dedicated to St Andrew.

Saint Andrew and the Parish of Luqa (Malta)

The first reference that we come across regarding the first small Chapel dedicated to Saint Andrew dates back to 1497. According the Pastoral Visit of Mgr. Pietro Dusina, we know that this Chapel consisted of 3 altars, one of them dedicated to Saint Andrew. The titular painting showing Mary with Saints Andrew and Paul was made by the Maltese artist Filippo Dingli.

At one time, many fishermen lived in the village of Luqa, and this may be the main reason behind choosing Saint Andrew as patron saint of Luqa. The titular statue of Saint Andrew was sculpted in wood by Giuseppe Scolaro in 1779. This statue underwent several restoration works including that of 1913 performed by the Maltese renowned artist Abraham Gatt.

The titular painting found on the main altar of the Church was painted by Mattia Preti in 1687. This represents the martyrdom of Saint Andrew.

Saint Andrew in Ukraine

The Kievan hill where St. Andrew is said to have erected the cross is commemorated by the cathedral dedicated in his name

Early Christian History in Ukraine holds that the apostle Saint Andrew is said to have preached on the southern borders of Ukraine, along the Black Sea. Legend has it that he travelled up the Dnieper River and reached the future location of Kiev, where he erected a cross on the site where the St. Andrew's Church of Kiev currently stands, and prophesied the foundation of a great Christian city.

Conclusions

Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Romania, Amalfi, and Luqa - Malta. He was also the patron saint of Prussia. The flag of Scotland (and consequently the Union Flag and the arms and Flag of Nova Scotia) feature a saltire in commemoration of the shape of St Andrew's cross. The saltire is also the Flag of Tenerife and the naval jack of Russia. The Confederate flag also features a saltire commonly referred to as a St Andrew's cross, although its designer, William Porcher Miles, said he changed it from an upright cross to a saltire so that it would not be a religious symbol but merely a heraldic device.

A statue of Saint Andrew is an important element in the story of the 1956 Hollywood wartime romance, Miracle In The Rain starring Van Johnson and Jane Wyman. When Ruth, played by Wyman realizes she has lost Art, the statue inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York becomes a focus of devotion for her.

The feast of Saint Andrew is observed on November 30 in both the Eastern and Western churches, and is the national day of Scotland. St. Andrew was a very important saint.

References

• Metzeger, Bruce M. (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help).
• Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.

Further reading

• Hall, Ursula, 1994. St. Andrew and Scotland

See also

• St Andrew's Day
• St Andrews (disambiguation)
• Patron saints of places
• Roman Catholic calendar of saints
• Andrew
• Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina, named after the saint
• University of St Andrews, named after the Royal Burgh of St Andrews, which was named after the saint

External links

• The Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew
• Texts of The Acts of Andrew The Acts and Martyrdom of Andrew and The Acts of Andrew and Matthew
• Saint Andrew in Orthodoxy
• St. Andrew in the National Archives of Scotland
• Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew translated by Robert Kilburn Root, 1899, from Project Gutenberg
• Paintings and Statues of Saint Andrew in Malta and around the world
• Biographical Study on St. Andrew the Apostle
• National Shrine to St Andrew in Edinburgh Scotland
• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• L'UNIONE PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY A.D. 1880 - Luqa, Malta
• Luqa Parish Church A.D. 1634 - Malta