The Life and Death of Saint Andrew
St. Andrew, 1631 – Jusepe de Ribera, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Saint Andrew’s day is celebrated worldwide on the thirtieth of November.
Andrew; the Patron Saint of Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Scotland, was a fisherman and brother of Saint Peter, the first disciple of Jesus and was in born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee.
DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1308-1311.
Saint Andrew was first a disciple of Saint John whom he later left to follow Jesus.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, Saint Andrew was also crucified by the Romans in Patras, Greece.
Crucifixion of Saint Andrew (1540–1545) by Juan Correa de Vivar
Andrew didn’t think himself worthy of being martyred on the same type of cross as Jesus and asked to be tied to a cross in the shape of an X.
The Saltaire:
Scotland’s National Flag and World’s Oldest Sovereign Flag
From this X-shaped cross upon which Andrew was crucified comes the flag of Scotland:
The Saltire; the World’s Oldest Sovereign Flag.
The Saltaire Scotland’s National Flag and World’s Oldest Sovereign Flag
How Saint Andrew came to be associated with Scotland
Version one
Legend has it St Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland in the ninth century when King Angus of Scotland was preparing for a battle against the English.
Saint Andrew allegedly came to King Angus in a dream predicting victory in battle and showing him the image of a large X floating in a blue sky.
King Angus promised that if the Scots were victorious in battle he would proclaim St Andrew the patron saint of Scotland.
Scotland went on to defeat England; Saint Andrew became the country’s Patron Saint and the Saltaire cross became the Scottish flag; a white X on a blue background; depicting King Angus’s vision.
This is just one version of the story of how Saint Andrew came to be associated with Scotland.
Saint Rugulus, a fourth century monk is also said to have a hand in assosiating Saint Andrew with Scotland.
Version Two
Saint Regulus or Saint Rule, a fourth century monk (or bishop) of Patras, Greece; in AD 345, is said to have fled Greece with the relics of Saint Andrew and placed them at what is now St Andrew’s Cathedral, Fife, Scotland.
Regulus, in a dream, was told by an angel that the Emperor Constantine was about remove Saint Andrew’s relics from Patras and take them to constantinople.
Regulus was told to move as many bones as he could from Patras and take them to the ends of the earth, where he should establish a cathedral dedicated to St Andrew.
Regulus was either shipwrecked or told by the angel to stop on the shores of Fife at the spot called Kilrymont (now St. Andrews), where he heeded the angel’s bidding and founded the Cathedral of Saint Andrews.
Regulus is thought to have brought three fingers of the saint’s right hand, the upper bone of an arm, one kneecap and one of his teeth.
The relics remained in Saint Andrew’s Cathedral until the cathedral was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation.
St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Fife, Scotland
Relics of Saint Andrew
Relics of Saint Andrew are kept in the Church Of Saint Andrew in Patras, Greece, the older church, found a short distance from the new one, is built on the site, where Saint Andrew was crucified.
St. Andrew’s church, Patras, Greece
The Church of Saint Andrew in Patras; the largest church in the Balkans has the capacity
to hold up to five and a half thousand people.
Thousands of Christians from all over the world travel to Patras to see the relics which are a little finger, part of the skull and small pieces of the cross.
Relics of St. Andrew, Patras
Pieces of St Andrew’s cross, Patras, Greece.
Relics of St. Andrew, Patras
Pieces of St Andrew’s cross, Patras, Greece.
The relics (pieces of the cross) had been taken, during the crusades, from Greece by The Duke Of Burgundy and were kept in the Church of Saint Victor in Marseilles but were returned to Patras on nineteenth of January 1980.
The cross of Burgundy also has its origins in the X-shaped cross of Saint Andrew and was used in the fifteenth century as an emblem by the Dukes of Burgundy.
Spanish monarchs continued to use the Burgundy cross on their own arms even after losing their Burgundy territory.
Today it is still part of some Spanish military insignia and is part of the coat of arms of the king of Spain.
Cross of Burgundy Flag
Another significant church dedicated to Saint Andrew is The Church of Saint Andrew in
Kiev, Ukraine.
The Church Of Saint Andrew in Kiev, Ukraine
Saint Andrew; thought of as the first preacher of Christianity, is said to have traveled up the Dnieper River until he came to the area which today is Ukraine.
There he erected a cross on the site of today’s church of Saint Andrew professing that the spot would be the foundations of a great Christian city.
