The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
Apostle, founder of the Church of Byzantium
- Feast day
- November 30
- Lived
- 1st century
- Patronage
- Constantinople, Greece, Russia, Romania, Scotland; fishermen
The first of the apostles to follow Christ, Saint Andrew brought his brother Peter to the Lord and preached from Asia Minor to the Black Sea, founding the Church that became the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Life
A fisherman of Bethsaida and a disciple of John the Baptist, Andrew heard his teacher point to Christ and followed at once — hence the title Protokletos, First-Called. He immediately found Simon Peter and told him, 'We have found the Messiah.'
After Pentecost he preached in Bithynia, Thrace, Scythia and along the northern Black Sea coast, and tradition has him blessing the hills of Kyiv and founding the see of Byzantium. He was crucified at Patras in Achaea on an X-shaped cross, the saltire that bears his name.
Veneration
The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople keeps his feast on November 30 as its patronal day, when a delegation from Rome traditionally attends. His relics were returned to Patras in 1964, and the saltire appears on the flags of Scotland and of the Russian navy.