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 Saint Andrew (at far left) Fresco The Particular Judgement From 2007 Postcard Set "Excavations at Basilica of San Clemente" The Feast of Saint Andrew is normally celebrated on November 30. However, this year (2025), with the First Sunday of Advent falling on that date, the feast is not formally listed on the liturgical calendar. Saint Andrew was the brother of Saint Peter, from Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, and a fisherman by trade. He followed John the Baptist before becoming a disciple of Jesus. In lists of the Apostles he is always one of the first four mentioned, and by many is viewed as the "first apostle"--being the first to commit to following Jesus Christ. Andrew is referenced in Mark 1: 16-20, John 6:1-9, 2:20-23, and John 1: 35-42. According to John 1:40-42 it is Andrew who drew Peter’s attention to the Messiah: “One of the two who heard John [the Baptist] speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus.”The painting "The Calling of Saint Peter and Saint Andrew", by Renaissance master Domenico Ghirlandaio and located in the Sistine Chapel, is depicted on the stamp shown:  Restoration of the Sistine Chapel Issue Scott 1156 (2000) St. Andrew was said to have been crucified ca. 60 on a cross shaped as an “X,” (the Saltire Cross), a symbol associated with Andrew after the 10th century. “St. Andrew’s Cross,” along with the Cross of St. George, is also featured on the British Union flag of 1801 when the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was proclaimed. St. Andrew is also a patron of Russia. St. Andrew’s feast was universal by the 6th century.  Statue of Saint Andrew, by Camillo Rusconi (circa 1715) Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome Photo by Jastrow From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license Andrew’s mission after the Resurrection is unclear as is the place of his martyrdom and the location of his relics. Traditions place Andrew in Greece (Scythia and Epirus); it is said he was crucified in Patras (Achia). Another tradition is that he preached in Constantinople, which claims him as the apostolic founder of the see, and the place to where his relics were eventually moved. It is said in 1204 (4th Crusade) crusaders took St. Andrew’s relics from Constantinople and transported them to Amalfi. A skull said to be that of St. Andrew was given to Pope Pius II in 1461 by Thomas Palaeologus (a Byzantine despot and brother of the last Christian Eastern Emperor Constantine XI). This likely was an attempt to enlist a crusade to recover Constantinople from Muslim conquest in 1453. The skull was returned to the Patriarch of Constantinople by Pope St. Paul VI in 1964. It is considered a prize possession in Constantinople and links an Apostle to the city much as Saints Peter and Paul are identified with Rome. The Scottish Connection: St. Andrew’s relics are also said to have been translated from Petras to Fife, Scotland, which became a center for pilgrimage and the later designation of Andrew as a patron of Scotland. Relics were located at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, which was pillaged and ruined in the 16th century Scottish reformation. Historian David Farmer suggests sources for the transfer of relics to St. Andrews are in disagreement regarding details (the translation is said to have occurred in the 4th, 8th or 13th century, for example). A legendary St. Regulus (St. Rule) is said to have transported the relics to Fife in 354 to protect them from being seized by Emperor Constantius II who was going to remove them to Constantinople. Regulus was shipwrecked (or told by an angel) to stop at Fife. The fragments were later placed in St. Rule’s Tower built next to an 11th century St. Rule’s Church. It is unclear as to their disposition thereafter, due to the destruction of the 16th century. In the 19th century other relics of St. Andrew were brought from Amalfi to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh. The image at the top of this article provide a depiction of St. Andrew, from a 9th century fresco at the Basilica of St. Clement in Rome and reproduced on a 2007 Vatican City postal card. In addition to St. Andrew, the group includes Jesus (hand raised in a blessing), Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel, St. Clement, and Sts. Cyril and Methodius. REFERENCES: |
