The story of Saint Andrew

The story of Saint Andrew the apostle
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Saint Andrew was the younger brother of Saint Peter; the name "Andrew," like several other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century B.C. He was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee and was the younger brother of Simon Peter. Both were fishermen and at the beginning of Jesus's ministry lived in the same house at Caparnaum

Before Jesus began his ministry in Galilee, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and this led him and John the Evangelist to follow Jesus. Andrew realised that Jesus was the Messiah, and introduced him to his brother, Peter. From that point the two brothers were disciples of Christ and took up the call to leave his home and all his possessions to follow Jesus when he told them he would make them "Fishers of men".

After the crucifixion of Jesus, Andrew is believed to have become a missionary and preached in Asia Minor and in Scythia, along the Black Sea as far as the River Volga and the city of Kiev. This is why he became a patron saint of Romania and Russia. According to tradition, he also founded the See of Byzantium in 38 AD, only the second bishopric to be created at that time. This See later became the Patriarchate of Constantinople, with St. Andrew as its Patron Saint.

He is said to have been martyred by crucifixion in the reign of the Emperor Nero at Patras in Greece, on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross or saltire, now known as a "St. Andrew's cross,") at his own request, as he declared himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross on which Christ was crucified. He was tied to the cross, not nailed, and reputedly took two days to die, preaching all the while from the cross.

There are several explanations for why Andrew became the patron of Scotland.

In 345 AD, the Emperor Constantine the Great decided to move Andrew's bones from Patras to Constantinople. Saint Regulus was instructed by an angel to take many of these relics to the far northwest. He was eventually told to stop on the Fife coast of Scotland, where he founded the settlement of Saint Andrew.
In the 7th century, Saint Wilfrid brought some of the saint's relics to Scotland with him after a pilgrimage to Rome. The Scots king, Angus MacFergus, installed them at Saint Andrew's to enhance the prestige of the new diocese.
When the Pictish King Angus faced a large invading army, he prayed for guidance. A white cloud in the form of a saltire cross floated across the blue sky above him. Angus won a decisive victory, and decreed that Andrew would be the patron saint of his country. Following Robert the Bruce's victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Declaration of Arbroath officially named Saint Andrew the patron saint of Scotland. The Saltire became the national flag of Scotland in 1385.

According to tradition his relics were moved from Patras to Constantinople, and then - possibly via St. Andrews in Scotland, where local legend says that they 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 rulers to Pope Pius II in 1461. In recent years, the relics were kept in the Vatican City, but were sent back to Patras by 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.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of many groups, towns, states and countries, amongst them (in alphabetical order) Achaia; Amalfi in Italy; anglers; Berchtesgaden in Germany; Burgundy; the diocese of Constantinople; fishmongers and fishermen; sufferers from gout; the diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greece; Lampertheim in Germany; Luqa in Malta; Patras in Greece; Plymouth in England; Russia; Scotland; singers; sore throats; the Spanish armed forces; the University of Patras; unmarried women and women who wish to become mothers. St Andrew's Day is celebrated on November 30.