The Feast of St. Andrew

[Father Bill]

In the church, this Sunday (Nov. 30) is both the First Sunday in Advent and the Feast of St. Andrew. It occurred to me that some of our Great Rabble might be interested in knowing a wee mite more about Scotland's Patron Saint, so here is an article I found online at http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-andrew-the-apostle/ I've copied it here to save the nuisance of following a link.



Also known as Andrew the Protoclete, Andreas and Endres

Memorial 30 November
9 May (translation of relics)

Profile

The first Apostle. Fisherman by trade. Brother of Simon Peter. Follower of John the Baptist. Andrew went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after the Crucifixion. Missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly areas in modern Russia and Poland. Martyred on an saltire (x-shaped) cross, he is said to have preached for two days from it.

Some peculiar marriage-related superstitions have attached themselves to Saint Andrew’s feast day. An old German tradition says that single women who wish to marry should ask for Saint Andrew’s help on the eve of his feast, then sleep naked that night; they will see their future husbands in their dreams. Another says that young women should note the location of barking dogs on Saint Andrew’s Eve: their future husbands will come from that direction. On the day after Andrew’s feast, young people float cups in a tub; if a boy‘s and a girl‘s cup drift together and are intercepted by a cup inscribed “priest”, it indicates marriage.

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

In 345, Emperor Constantine the Great decided to translate Andrew’s bones from Patras, Greece to Constantinople. Saint Regulus of Scotland was instructed by an angel to take many of these relics to the far northwest. He was eventally told to stop on the Fife coast of Scotland, where he founded the settlement of Saint Andrew.
In the 7th century, Saint Wilfrid of York brought some of the saint‘s relics with him after a pilgrimage to Rome, Italy. 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 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.

Born at Bethsaida, Galilee
Died crucified on a saltire (x-shaped) cross in Greece relics destroyed c.1559 during the Protestant Reformation

Patronage against convulsions against fever against gout against neck pain against sore throats against whooping cough
anglers boatmen butchers farm workers fish dealers fish mongers fishermen happy marriages maidens mariners miners old maids pregnant women rope makers sail makers sailors single lay women singers spinsters textile workers unmarried women water carriers women who wish to become mothers — Knights of the Golden Fleece Spanish armed forces University of Patras — Austria Germany Greece Luxembourg Netherlands Romania Russia Scotland Spain

[Tarheel]

WHEW! Thank you Father Bill for that. I feel absolutely covered for most of my remaining days by St. Andrews.

[MacRobert's Reply]

On this side of the pond Father Bill we will commemorate St Andrew tomorrow (Monday). Since today (Sunday) is the first Sunday in Advent, his day is transferred. Strange archaic customs in the old world!

[seanachie]

There is actually a good reason for that, I don't want to stray into areas not associated with kilts but it has to do with the hierarchy of the liturgical calendar and different denominations can vary.

[Father Bill]

Yes, we transfer too, but for non-liturgical information purposes the date is the date.

[Mike_Oettle]

Thank you for that excursion into the apostle’s life, Bill. I heard another on Saturday night when I attended a St Andrew’s Night dinner.
The man who delivered it is a Presbyterian minister (by ordination, anyway – I believe he may now be pastoring an independent congregation) who attended an Anglican church school named St Andrew’s College.
One aspect of Andrew’s history seems to have been left out by both your good self and my Presbyterian friend, even though the apostle’s importance is stressed.
I have learnt that when a rabbi called students or disciples to follow him, he picked out the brightest of the bright – not just any random fellow.
And I am told that this is still the case.
Traditionally a rabbi would do this when he was about 30, and his followers would be roughly half his age – so the disciples (the Twelve, at least) would have been boys of 15, 16 and 17. It was also traditional for such youths to be married, which is why we read that Peter (Kefas) had a mother-in-law.
So when we read that Andrew and his brother Peter were disciples of John the Baptist, one can take it for granted that they were exceptional young scholars, products of a rabbinical school somewhere.
We read in the Gospels that they were working for their father. Since he was a fisherman, it stood to reason that they also had been trained from boyhood in the skills required of a fisherman. But this does not make them “mere fishermen”, and certainly not illiterate.
Being a fisherman and being a Torah scholar were two aspects of their life, and when Jesus called them from their nets, they clearly recognised the significance of being called by the man John had called the Lamb of God.
They already knew Jesus, having been present at His baptism, and it was Andrew who had called his brother to talk with Jesus.
So when He called them, they had a very good idea of what might be required of them. And indeed their father (who had sent them to study under a rabbi) also knew this, which is no doubt why he did not object.
It is unfortunate that the relics of Andrew that were kept at St Andrews Cathedral were destroyed in the enthusiasm of the Reformation.
But there are some of his bones that remain in the Mediterranean region.
Pope John XXIII presented John’s skull to the Greek Orthodox Church in Patrai (as Patras is now known) as a gesture of reconciliation. However more recently the skull was returned to Rome.

Incidentally, my son was due to have been born (by cæsarian section) on 30 November. But because of a slip on the part of the obstetrician (a highly competent man) the operation had to be postponed for two days. However, having decided to name him Andrew, we kept the name. Today is his 32nd birthday.
Regards,
Mike