Apostle Andrew

His Life

The holy, glorious and all-laudable Apostle Andrew the First-called was a fisherman by trade, born in Bethsaida. A disciple of St. John the Baptist, he left St. John to follow Christ following His baptism and brought along his brother: the Apostle Peter. Both are numbered among the Twelve Great Apostles. After Pentecost, the lot fell to St. Andrew to preach in:

• Byzantium: he appointed St. Stachys as its first bishop
• Thrace, Peloponnese, Greece, and Epirus: he converted many to the Faith and ordained bishops and priests for them
• Russian lands: in Kiev he planted a cross on a high place and prophesied a bright Christian future for the Russian people

His Death

St. Andrew was martyred in Peloponnese, in the city of Patras. The Proconsul Aegeates' family believed in the miracles and preaching of St. Andrew, and the enraged Proconsul tortured and crucified St. Andrew. The new converts wanted to remove him from his cross, but would not allow them. Instead, he comforted them from the cross and as he prayed an extraordinary light encompassed him for about a half hour. When it left, he gave up his soul. It was the year 62 AD.

St. Andrew's relics were taken to Constantinople, his head to Rome and a hand to Moscow.

Feast Day

The Church remembers St. Andrew on November 30.

Source

St. Nikolai Velimirovic, The Prologue of Ohrid