Andrew the Apostle (Greek: , Andreas; from the early 1st century mid to late 1st

century AD; known by some as Saint Andrew), called in

the Orthodox tradition Prtokltos(), or the First-called, was a Christian Apostle and the
brother of Saint Peter.
[2]

The name "Andrew" (Greek: manly, brave, from , Andreia, "manhood, valour"), like other
Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews, Christians, and other Hellenized
people of the region. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him. According to Orthodox
tradition, the apostolic successor to Saint Andrew is Patriarch Bartholomew I.
[3]

Contents
[hide]
1 Life
2 The Acts of Andrew
3 Relics
4 Traditions and legends
o 4.1 Georgia
o 4.2 Cyprus
o 4.3 Malta
o 4.4 Romania
o 4.5 Ukraine
o 4.6 Scotland
5 Legacy
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
Life[edit]
The New Testament states that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter,
[4]
by which it is inferred that
he was likewise a son of John, or Jonah. He was born in the village of Bethsaidaon the Sea of
Galilee. 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:
, halies anthrpn).
[5]
At the beginning of Jesus' public life, they were said to have
occupied the same house at Capernaum.

The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew by Caravaggio
The Gospel of John states that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, whose testimony first led
him, and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist, to follow Jesus. Andrew at once recognized
Jesus as the Messiah, and hastened to introduce him to his brother.
[6]
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.
In the gospels, Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the
disciples more closely attached to Jesus.
[7]
Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and
fishes (John 6:8), with Philip told Jesus about the Greeks seeking Him, and was present at the Last
Supper.
[8]


Crucifixion of St. Andrew.
Eusebius in his church history 3,1 quotes Origen as saying Andrew preached in Scythia.
The Chronicle of Nestor adds that he preached along the Black Seaand the Dnieper river as far
as Kiev, and from there he traveled to Novgorod. Hence, he became a patron
saint of Ukraine, Romania and Russia. According to tradition, he founded
the See of Byzantium (Constantinople) in AD 38, installing Stachys as bishop. According
to Hippolytus of Rome, he preached in Thrace, and his presence in Byzantium is also mentioned in
the apocryphal Acts of Andrew, written in the 2nd century; Basil of Seleucia also knew of Apostle
Andrew's mission in Thrace, as well as Scythia and Achaia.
[9]
This diocese would later develop into
the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Andrew is recognized as its patron saint.
Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patr) in Achaea, on the
northern coast of the Peloponnese. Early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of
Tours,
[10]
describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Jesus is said to
have been crucified; yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form
called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or "saltire"), now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's
Cross" supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the
same type of cross as Jesus had been.
[11]
"The familiar iconography of his martyrdom, showing the
apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, does not seem to have been standardized before the
later Middle Ages," Judith Calvert concluded after re-examining the materials studied by Louis
Rau.
[12]

The Acts of Andrew[edit]
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 (...) 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 theDecretum
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 a critical professional readership. Another version of the Andrew
legend is found in the Passio Andreae, published by Max Bonnet (Supplementum II Codicis
apocryphi, Paris, 1895).
Relics[edit]

Saint Andrew of Patras basilica, where St. Andrew's relics are kept

Statue of Andrew in the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran by Camillo Rusconi.
Relics of the Apostle Andrew are kept at the Basilica of St Andrew in Patras, Greece; the Duomo di
Sant'Andrea, Amalfi, Italy; St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland;
[6]
and the
Church of St Andrew and St Albert, Warsaw, Poland. There are also numerous
smaller reliquaries throughout the world.
Andrew's remains were preserved at Patras. According to one legend, St. Regulus (Rule) was a
monk at Patras, who was advised in a dream to hide some of the bones. Shortly thereafter, most of
the relics were translated from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor Constantius
II around 357 and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.
[8]

Regulus was said to have had a second dream in which an angel advised him to take the hidden
relics to the ends of the earth for protection. Wherever he was shipwrecked, he was to build a
shrine for them. St Rule set sail, taking with him a kneecap, an upper arm bone, three fingers and a
tooth. He sailed west, towards the edge of the known world, and was shipwrecked on the coast of
Fife, Scotland. However, the relics were probably brought to Britain in 597 as part of the Augustine
Mission, and then in 732 to Fife, by Bishop Acca of Hexham, a well known collector of religious
relics.
[6]

The skull of St. Andrew, which had been taken to Constantinople was returned to Patras by
Emperor Basil I, who ruled from 867 to 886.
[13]

In 1208, following the sack of Constantinople, those relics of St. Andrew and St. Peter which
remained in the imperial city were taken to Amalfi, Italy,
[14]
by Cardinal Peter of Capua, a native of
Amalfi. A cathedral (Duomo), was built, dedicated to St. Andrew (as is the town itself), to house a
tomb in its crypt where it is maintained that most of the relics of the apostle, including an occipital
bone, remain.
Thomas Palaeologus was the youngest surviving son of Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos.
Thomas ruled the province of Morea, the medieval name for the Peloponnese. In 1461, when the
Ottomans crossed the Strait of Corinth, Palaeologus fled Patras for exile in Italy, bringing with him
what was purported to be the skull of St. Andrew. He gave the head to Pope Pius II, who had it
enshrined in one of the four central piers of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
In September 1964, Pope Paul VI, as a gesture of goodwill toward the Greek Orthodox Church,
ordered that all of the relics of St. Andrew that were in Vatican City be sent back to Patras.
Cardinal Augustin Bea along with many other cardinals presented the skull to Bishop Constantine of
Patras on 24 September 1964.
[15][16]
The cross of St. Andrew was taken from Greece during the
Crusades by the Duke of Burgundy.
[17][18]
It was kept in the church of St. Victor in Marseilles
[19][20]
until it
returned to Patras on 19 January 1980. The cross of the apostle was presented to the Bishop of
Patras Nicodemus by a Catholic delegation led by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. All the relics, which
consist of the small finger, the skull (part of the top of the cranium of Saint Andrew), and the cross on
which he was martyred, have been kept in the Church of St. Andrew at Patras in a special shrine
and are revered in a special ceremony every 30 November, his feast day.
In 2006, the Catholic Church, again through Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, gave the Greek Orthodox
Church another relic of St. Andrew.
[21]

Traditions and legends[edit]
Georgia[edit]
The church tradition of Georgia regards St. Andrew as the first preacher of Christianity in the territory
of Georgia and as the founder of the Georgian church. This tradition was apparently derived from the
Byzantine sources, particularly Nicetas of Paphlagonia (died c. 890) who asserts that "Andrew
preached to the Iberians, Sauromatians, Taurians, and Scythians and to every region and city, on
the Black Sea, both north and south."
[22]
The version was adopted by the 10th-11th-century Georgian
ecclesiastics and, refurbished with more details, was inserted in the Georgian Chronicles. The story
of St. Andrews mission in the Georgian lands endowed the Georgian church with apostolic origin
and served as a defense argument to George the Hagiorite against the encroachments from
the Antiochian church authorities on autocephaly of the Georgian church. Another Georgian
monk, Ephraim the Minor, produced a thesis, reconciling St. Andrews story with an earlier evidence
of the 4th-century conversion of Georgians by St. Nino and explaining the necessity of the "second
Christening" by Nino. The thesis was made canonical by the Georgian church council in 1103.
[23][24]

Cyprus[edit]
Cypriot tradition holds that a ship which was transporting Saint Andrew went off course and ran
aground. Upon coming ashore, Andrew struck the rocks with his staff at which point a spring of
healing waters gushed forth. Using it, the sight of the ship's captain, who had been blind in one eye,
was restored. Thereafter, the site became a place of pilgrimage and a fortified monastery stood
there in the 12th century, from which Isaac Comnenus negotiated his surrender to Richard the
Lionheart. In the 15th century, a small chapel was built close to the shore. The main monastery of
the current church dates to the 18th century.
Other pilgrimages are more recent. The story is told that in 1895, the son of a Maria Georgiou was
kidnapped. Seventeen years later, Saint Andrew appeared to her in a dream, telling her to pray for
her son's return at the monastery. Living in Anatolia, she embarked on the crossing to Cyprus on a
very crowded boat. As she was telling her story during the journey, one of the passengers, a young
Dervish priest, became more and more interested. Asking if her son had any distinguishing marks,
he stripped off his clothes to reveal the same marks and mother and son were thus reunited.
[25]

Apostolos Andreas Monastery (Greek: ) is a monastery dedicated to Saint
Andrew situated just south of Cape Apostolos Andreas, which is the north-easternmost point of the
island of Cyprus, in Rizokarpason in the Karpass Peninsula. The monastery is an important site to
the Cypriot Orthodox Church. It was once known as 'the Lourdes of Cyprus', served not by an
organized community of monks but by a changing group of volunteer priests and laymen.
Both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities consider the monastery a holy place. As such,
it is visited by many people for votive prayers.
Malta[edit]

Fifth-century mosaic of St. Andrew at St. Paul Outside the Walls, Rome
The first reference regarding the first small chapel at Luqa dedicated to Andrew dates to 1497. This
chapel contained three altars, one of them dedicated to Andrew. The painting showing "Mary with
Saints Andrew and Paul" was painted 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 Andrew as
patron saint. The statue of Andrew was sculpted in wood by Giuseppe Scolaro in 1779. This statue
underwent several restoration works including that of 1913 performed by the Maltese artist Abraham
Gatt. The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew on the main altar of the church was painted by Mattia Preti in
1687.
Romania[edit]
Main article: Saint Andrew in Romania
The official stance of the Romanian Orthodox Church is that Andrew preached the Gospel in the
province of Dobruja (Scythia Minor) to the Daco-Romans, whom he is said to have converted to
Christianity. This theory is based in part on some ancient Christian symbols found carved in
a cave near Murfatlar and in historical springs. According to New World Encyclopedia
[26]
which
quotes Hippolyte of Antioch, (died c. 250 C.E.) in his On Apostles, Origen in the third book of his
Commentaries on the Genesis (254 C.E.), Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (340 C.E.),
and other different sources, like the Usaard's Martyrdom written between 845-865, Jacobus de
Voragine in Golden Legend (c. 1260), 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 he supposedly preached, supposedly
identified and called "Saint Andrew's Cave".
[27][28]

According to some modern Romanian scholars, the idea of early Christianisation is unsustainable.
They take the idea to be a part of an ideology of protochronism which purports that the Orthodox
Church has been a companion and defender of the Romanian people for its entire history, which
was then used for propaganda purposes during the communist era.
[29]
Several works show, in
contrast, that communists did not use this idea for propaganda but rather acted strongly against
religion, persecuting Christians and promoting atheism as the belief system.
[30][31][32]

Another Romanian researcher, George Alexandrou,
[20]
although he denies this theory, maintains that
St. Andrew spent 20 years in the territories of the Daco-Romans, preaching and teaching.
Alexandrou also supposes that St. Andrews felt very close to the Dacians because they were
monotheists. During that period St. Andrew traveled around the Lower Danube territories and along
the coast of the Black Sea, but mostly he stayed in and around his cave in Dobruja (located in the
vicinity of the Ion Corvin village). St. Andrews cave is still kept as a holy place. Later, John
Cassian (360-435), Dionysius Exiguus (470-574) and Joannes Maxentius (leader of the so-
called Scythian Monks) lived in the same area, known as Scythia Minor or Dobruja, in South East
Romania.
[33]

The consecration of the monument inDonetsk after St. Andrew
There are a few pre-Christian traditions connected to St. Andrew's Day, some of them having their
origin in the Roman celebrations of Saturn.
[34][35][36]
The Dacian New Year took place from 14
November until 7 December; this was considered the interval when time began its course.
[37]
One of
the elements that came from the Roman and Thracian celebrations concerned wolves. During this
night, wolves are allowed to eat all the animals they want. It is said that they can speak, too, but
anyone that hears them will soon die. Early on St. Andrews day, the mothers go into the garden and
gather tree branches, especially from apple, pear and cherry trees, and also rosebush branches.
They make a bunch of branches for each family member. The one whose bunch blooms by New
Year's Day will be lucky and healthy the next year.
The best known tradition connected to this night concerns matrimony and premonitory dreams.
Single girls must put under their pillow a branch of sweet basil. If someone takes the plants in their
dreams, that means the girl will marry soon. They can also plant wheat in a dish and water it until
New Years Day. The nicer the wheat looks that day, the better the year to come. Saint Andrew's
name is known in Romania under diverse forms: Sfntul Andrei, Snt Andrei, Snedru
[34]

Ukraine[edit]

St Andrew's prophecy of Kiev depicted in Radzivill Chronicle.
Early Christian History in Ukraine holds that the apostle Andrew preached on the southern borders
of modern-day Ukraine, along the Black Sea. Legend has it that he travelled up theDnieper
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.
[38]

It was in the obvious interest of Kievan Rus' and its later Russian and Ukraninian successors,
striving in numerous ways to link themselves with the political and religious heritage ofByzantium, to
claim such a direct visit from the famous. Claiming direct lineage from St. Andrew also had the effect
of disregarding any theological leanings of Greek Orthodoxy over which disagreement arose, since
the actual "indirect" proselytising via Byzantium was bypassed altogether. Still, as the same source
quotes, Andrew only preached to the southern shore of theBlack Sea (current Turkey).
[citation needed]

Scotland[edit]

The Saltire (or "St. Andrew's Cross") is the national flag of Scotland
About the middle of the 10th century,
[citation needed]
Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several
legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought by divine guidance fromConstantinople to the
place where the modern town of St Andrews stands today (Gaelic, Cill Rmhinn).
The oldest surviving manuscripts are two: one is among the manuscripts collected by Jean-Baptiste
Colbert and willed to Louis XIV of France, now in the Bibliothque Nationale, Paris, the other is
the Harleian Mss in the British Library, London. They state that the relics of Andrew were brought by
one Regulus to the Pictish king engus mac Fergusa (729761). The only historical Regulus
(Riagail or Rule) whose name is preserved in the tower of St Rule was an Irish monk expelled
from Ireland with Saint Columba; his dates, however, are 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.

St. Andrew, carving c.1500 in the National Museum of Scotland
According to legend, in 832 AD, engus II led an army of Picts and Scots into battle against
the Angles, led by thelstan, near modern-day Athelstaneford,East Lothian. The legend states that
he was heavily outnumbered and hence whilst engaged in prayer on the eve of battle, engus
vowed that if granted victory he would appoint Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. On the
morning of battle white clouds forming an X shape in the sky were said to have appeared. engus
and his combined force, emboldened by this apparent divine intervention, took to the field and
despite being inferior in numbers were victorious. Having interpreted the cloud phenomenon as
representing the crux decussata upon which Saint Andrew was crucified, engus honoured his pre-
battle pledge and duly appointed Saint Andrew as the Patron Saint of Scotland. The white saltire set
against a celestial blue background is said to have been adopted as the design of the flag of
Scotland on the basis of this legend.
[39]
However, there is evidence that Andrew was venerated in
Scotland before this.

Traditional stone fireplace in northern England. The carved St. Andrew's cross in the left hand wooden post was to
prevent witches from flying down the chimney, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole.
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 brother would
make a higher ranking patron. The 1320 Declaration of Arbroath cites Scotland's conversion to
Christianity by 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 Andrew. The
national church of the Scottish people in Rome, Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi is dedicated to St
Andrew.
A local superstition uses the cross of Saint Andrew as a hex sign on the fireplaces in
northern England and Scotland to prevent witches from flying down thechimney and entering the
house to do mischief. By placing the St Andrew's cross on one of the fireplace posts or lintels,
witches are prevented from entering through this opening. In this case, it is similar to the use of
a witch ball, although the cross will actively prevent witches from entering, and the witch ball will
passively delay or entice the witch, and perhaps entrap it.
Legacy[edit]

Saint Andrew the Apostle by Yoan from Gabrovo, 19th century
Andrew is the patron saint of several countries and cities
including: Barbados, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Amalfi in Italy, Esgueira in Portugal, Luqa
in Malta, Paraaque in thePhilippines and Patras in Greece. He was also the patron saint
of Prussia and of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He is considered the founder and the first bishop
of the Church ofByzantium and is consequently the patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Constantinople.
The flag of Scotland (and consequently the Union Flag and that of its commonwealth countries)
feature St Andrew's saltire cross. The saltire is also the flag of Tenerife, the former flag of
Galicia 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.
The Florida and Alabama flags also show that device.
The feast of Andrew is observed on 30 November in both the Eastern and Western churches, and is
the national day of Scotland. In the traditional liturgical books of the Catholic Church, the feast of St.
Andrew is the first feast day in the Proper of Saints.