Saint Andrew the Apostle

Apostle and Martyr
(died c. 60)

Saint Andrew was the first of the Twelve Apostles to be called by Jesus, giving him the title Protoclete, the first-called, in the Eastern tradition. He was a fisherman of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, the son of Jonah and the brother of Simon Peter. According to the Gospel of John, Andrew had been a disciple of Saint John the Baptist before he met Jesus; he was present when John pointed to Jesus and said, Behold the Lamb of God, and he immediately followed the Lord. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon Peter and bring him to Jesus, making him in a sense the first apostle to bring another soul to Christ.

In the synoptic Gospels he is called together with Peter from his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, and he appears in the Gospel of John at the feeding of the five thousand, where it is he who points out the boy with the five loaves and two fish. He and Philip together bring to Jesus the Greeks who want to see Him, an episode that marks the opening of the Gospel to the Gentile world. He is present at the Ascension and at Pentecost.

The ancient tradition of the Eastern Church holds that Andrew evangelised in Scythia, now Ukraine and southern Russia, making him the apostle of the Slavic peoples and the patron of Russia, Romania, and Ukraine. The Western tradition associates him with Achaia in Greece, where he is said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross at Patras, which has given this cross its name, the Cross of Saint Andrew or Saltire. This cross appears on the flags of Scotland and of the United Kingdom.

His relics are venerated at Patras in Greece and in the Cathedral of Amalfi in Italy. He is the patron saint of Scotland, where one of the most important early Christian missionary settlements bore his name, and of Russia, Romania, Ukraine, and Greece. His feast is celebrated on November 30th.