Saint Andrew
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- "St Andrew" redirects here, for other uses, see St Andrews (disambiguation).
| Saint Andrew | |
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| Apostle, First-called | |
| Born | early 1st Century AD/CE, Bethsaida |
| Died | mid-late 1st Century AD/CE, Patras, upon an X shaped cross |
| Venerated in | All Christianity |
| Major shrine | Church of St. Andreas at Patras, with his relics |
| Feast | November 30 |
| Attributes | Old man with long (in the East often untidy) white hair and beard, holding the Gospel Book or scroll, sometimes leaning on a saltire cross |
| Patronage | Scotland, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Romania, Amalfi, Luqa (Malta) and Prussia; Army Rangers, mariners, fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, singers and performers |
 Saints Portal |
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Saint Andrew (Greek: Ανδρέας, Andreas), called in the Orthodox tradition Protocletos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the younger brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" (from Greek : "ανδρεία", Andreia, manhood, or valour), like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the second or third century B.C. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him.
The New Testament records that St Andrew was a son of Jonah, or John, (Matthew 16:17; John 1:42). He was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee (John 1:44). 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: ἁλιείς ἀνθρώπων, halieis anthropon). [1] At the beginning of Jesus' public life they occupied the same house at Capernaum (Mark 1:21-29).
The Gospel of John teaches that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, whose testimony first led him and John the Evangelist to follow Jesus (John 1:35-40). Andrew at once recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and hastened to introduce him to his brother (John 1:41). 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 (Luke 5:11; Matthew 4:19-20; Mark 1:17-18).
In the gospels Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus (Mark 13:3; John 6:8, 12:22), but in Acts there is only a bare mention of him (1:13).
Eusebius quotes Origen as saying Andrew preached in Asia Minor and in Scythia, along the Black Sea as far as the Volga and Kiev. Hence he became a patron saint of Romania and Russia. According to tradition, he founded the See of Byzantium (Constantinople)[2] in AD 38, installing Stachys as bishop. 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 Patras (Patrae) in Achaea. Though early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of Tours,[3] describe Andrew bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Christ was crucified, a tradition grew up that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross) and commonly known as "St. Andrew's cross"; this was performed at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross on which Christ was crucified.[4] "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 Réau.[5]
Saint Andrew is the patron of Patras. According to tradition his relics were moved from Patras to Constantinople, and thence to St. Andrews (see below). Local legends say that the relics were sold to the Romans. The head of the saint, considered one of the treasures of St. Peter's Basilica, was given by the Byzantine despot Thomas Palaeologus to Pope Pius II in 1461. In recent years, by decision of Pope Paul VI in 1964, the relics that were kept in the Vatican City, were sent back to Patras. The relics, which consist of the small finger, part of the top of the cranium of Saint Andrew and small parts of the cross, have since that time been kept in the Church of St. Andrew at Patras in a special shrine, and are revered in a special ceremony every November 30.
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[edit] The Acts of Andrew
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 may be the latest of the five leading apostolic romances. They 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 the Decretum 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).
[edit] Relics
The purported relics of the Apostle Andrew are kept at the Basilica of St. Andrew in Patras, Greece; the Duomo de Sant'Andrea, Amalfi, Italy; St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland;[6] and the Church of St. Andrew and St. Albert, Warsaw, Poland. There are also numerous smaller reliquaries throughout the world.
St. Jerome wrote that the relics of St. Andrew were taken from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor Constantius II around 357 and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles. The head of the saint was given by the Byzantine despot Thomas Palaeologus to Pope Pius II in 1461. It was 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 good will toward the Greek Orthodox Church, ordered that all of the relics of St. Andrew that were in Vatican City, were sent back to Patras. The relics, which consist of the small finger, part of the top of the cranium of Saint Andrew and small portions of the cross on which he was martyred, have since that time been kept in the Church of St. Andrew at Patras in a special shrine, and are reverenced in a special ceremony every November 30, his feast day.
[edit] Amalfi
In 1208, following the sack of Constantinople those relics of St. Andrew which remained in the imperial city were taken to Amalfi, Italy, by Pedro, cardinal of Capua, a native of Amalfi.
The Amalfi cathedral (Duomo), dedicated to St. Andrew (as is the town itself), contains a tomb in its crypt that it maintains still contains the rest of the relics of the apostle.
On 5/8/08, St. Andrew's head was returned to Amalfi Cathedral.
[edit] Romanian tradition
Romanians believe that Saint Andrew (named Sfântul Apostol Andrei) was the first who preached Christianity in Scythia Minor, modern Dobrogea, to the native people of the Dacians (ancestors of the Romanians): it is the official position of the Romanian Orthodox Church.[7] Hippolyte of Antioch (died ~AD 250) in his On apostles, Origen in the third book of his Commentaries on Genesis (AD 254), Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (AD 340), and other sources, like the Usaard's Martyrdom written between 845-865,[8] Jacobus de Voragine in the Golden Legend (~1260),[9] mention that 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 it is supposed he preached. The mysterious tradition of baptism which happens in the village of Copuzu is also linked by some ethnologists with the christianization campaign made by the Apostle.
[edit] Scottish legends
About the middle of the tenth century, Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Several legends state that the relics of Andrew were brought under supernatural guidance from Constantinople to the place where the modern town of St Andrews stands today (Gaelic, Cill Rìmhinn).
The oldest surviving manuscripts are two: one is among the manuscripts collected by Jean-Baptiste Colbert and willed to Louis XIV, now in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, the other in the Harleian Mss in the British Library, London. They state that the relics of Andrew were brought by one Regulus to the Pictish king Óengus mac Fergusa (729–761). The only historical Regulus (Riagail or Rule) — the name is preserved by the tower of St. Rule — was an Irish monk expelled from Ireland with Saint Columba; his date, however, is 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. The connection made with Regulus is, therefore, due in all probability to the desire to date the foundation of the church at St. Andrews as early as possible.
Another legend says that in the late eighth century, during a joint battle with the English, King Ungus (either the Óengus mac Fergusa mentioned previously or Óengus II of the Picts (820–834)) saw a cloud shaped like a saltire, and declared Andrew was watching over them, and if they won by his grace, then he would be their patron saint. However, there is evidence Andrew was venerated in Scotland before this.
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 younger brother would make a higher ranking patron. The 1320 Declaration of Arbroath cites Scotland's conversion to Christianity by Saint 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 Saint Andrew. The national church of the Scottish people in Rome, Sant'Andrea degli Scozzesi is dedicated to St Andrew.
[edit] Saint Andrew and the Parish of Luqa (Malta)
The first reference regarding the first small chapel at Luqa dedicated to Saint Andrew dates to 1497. The pastoral visit of Mgr. Pietro Dusina affirms that this chapel contained three altars, one of them dedicated to Saint Andrew. The titular 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 Saint Andrew as patron saint. The titular statue of Saint Andrew was sculpted in wood by Giuseppe Scolaro in 1779. This statue underwent several restoration works including that of 1913 performed by the Maltese renowned artist Abraham Gatt.
The Martyrdom of Saint Andrew on the main altar of the church was painted by Mattia Preti in 1687.
[edit] Saint Andrew in Ukraine
Early Christian History in Ukraine holds that the apostle Saint Andrew is said to have preached on the southern borders of modern-day Ukraine, along the Black Sea. Legend has it that he travelled up the Dnieper 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.
[edit] Conclusions
Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Romania, Greece, Amalfi, and Luqa in Malta. He was also the patron saint of Prussia. The flag of Scotland (and consequently the Union Flag and the arms and flag of Nova Scotia) feature St Andrew's saltire cross. The saltire is also the flag of Tenerife 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.
A statue of Saint Andrew is an important element in the story of the 1956 Hollywood wartime romance, Miracle In The Rain starring Van Johnson and Jane Wyman. When Ruth, played by Wyman realizes she has lost Art, the statue inside St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York becomes a focus of devotion for her.
The feast of Saint Andrew is observed on November 30 in both the Eastern and Western churches, and is the national day of Scotland.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Metzger & Coogan (1993) Oxford Companion to the Bible, p 27.
- ^ The only bishopric in that neighbourhood before that time had been established at Heraclea.
- ^ In Monumenta Germaniae Historica II, cols. 821-847, translated in M.R. James, The Apocryphal New Testament (Oxford) reprinted 1963:369.
- ^ The legends surrounding Andrew are discussed in F. Dvornik, The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium and the Legend of the Apostle Andrew Dumbarton Oaks Studies, IV (Cambridge) 1958.
- ^ Judith Calvert, "The Iconography of the St. Andrew Auckland Cross" The Art Bulletin 66.4 (December 1984:543-555) p. 545, note 12; according to Louis Réau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien III.1 (Paris) 1958:79, the Andrew cross appears for the first time in the tenth century, but does not become the iconographic standard before the seventeenth; Calvert was unable to find a sculptural representation of Andrew on the saltire cross earlier than a capital from Quercy, of the early twelfth century.
- ^ "National Shrine of Saint Andrew", St Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh
- ^ "Romanian Orthodox Church - short presentation", at the Romanian Patriarchy.
- ^ Nicolae Dură, "Christianism in Pontic Dacia" in Revue Roumain d'Histoire, 42.1-4, pp. 5-17, (Bucharest: Publishing House of the Romanian Academy) 2003.
- ^ Rebeka Ceravolo, An Iconographic analysis of the retable of saints Andrew and Antonin of Pamier, University of Toledo, Ohio, 2003, p. 20 (pdf) On-line text (pdf file).
[edit] References
- Metzeger, Bruce M. (ed); , Michael D. Coogan (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504645-5..
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
[edit] See also
- St Andrew's Day
- St Andrews (disambiguation)
- Patron saints of places
- Roman Catholic calendar of saints
- Andrew
- Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina, named after the saint
- University of St Andrews, named after the Royal Burgh of St Andrews, which was named after the saint
- Order of Saint Andrew
[edit] External links
- The Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew
- Texts of The Acts of Andrew The Acts and Martyrdom of Andrew and The Acts of Andrew and Matthew
- Saint Andrew in Orthodoxy
- St. Andrew in the National Archives of Scotland
- Andreas: The Legend of St. Andrew translated by Robert Kilburn Root, 1899, from Project Gutenberg
- Paintings and Statues of Saint Andrew in Malta and around the world
- Biographical Study on St. Andrew the Apostle
- National Shrine to St Andrew in Edinburgh Scotland
- Catholic Encyclopedia article
| Preceded by — |
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople before 38 |
Succeeded by Stachys the Apostle |
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