THE VENERATION AND TRADITIONS OF
THE APOSTLE ANDREW
Saint Andrew's Cathedral Amalfi, Italy where most
of the Saints relics are housed.
By John P. Chase
Webmaster All Saints Church
s with
most Saints in the Christian Faith, Saint Andrew has many patronages and
traditions. Some of Andrew’s traditions are even a bit whimsical, such as in
Germany, if a single women wish to marry they should sleep naked on the Eve of
Saint Andrew’s Feast, (Feast: November 30) and they will meet their future
husband in their dreams and on that night they should note the location of
barking dogs because that is direction their future husbands will come. Leave
to the Germans to think up that one.
Andrew's Ministry: Source Westminster Directory of the Bible 1954.
However, it is Andrew wide ministry that really points the way to his wide veneration. According the most sources, the classical kingdom of Scythia was his primary ministry. Today, that includes Southern Russia, Romania. There is also evidence of his ministry in Cappadocia or modern day Turkey, where tradition says he was the first Bishop of Constantinople (Istanbul). His ministry ended in Greece in the time of Nero, when he was martyred. As with all the Apostles, he spread the “good news” far and wide.
Except for Russia and Greece, where he is co-patron with Saint George, most national patronages, which include Poland, Romania and Scotland rely on where he purported bones are laid. Poland and Romania’s patronages can safely fall into the ministry category. However, Scotland is a more mysterious patronage. Even the Scottish national flag is the “saltire” cross of Saint Andrew. Greece’s flag would have also used Andrew’s cross if it had not been for pressure from the Orthodox Church for a more traditional cross.
THE BONES OF THE APOSTLE
The Reliquary and Altar at Saint Andrew's in Patras.
His
head, can be found in the monumental St. Andrew’s Orthodox Cathedral in Patras,
Greece. The head was returned to Patras as a good will gesture to the Orthodox
Church by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The head had previously been interred in one
four foundation piers of Saint Peters’ in the Vatican. Saint Andrew’s Cathedral
in Amalfi, Italy claims to have most of the relics. Amalfi gifted several
relics to Scotland’s Roman Catholic St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh in
late 19th century and Pope Paul VI added several more in the 1960’s.
The Italian tradition seems off kilter, since he was not known to have ever
evangelized there. The possible explanation is that early in the Christian
churches competed for relics of the founder because it was symbol of the
importance of that particular church. There are no purported relics in Russia
and the principal monument to Andrew is the Cathedral of Saint Andrew in Kiev
(left) in the Ukraine. At that site, he was said to have preached and
built a cross.
THE MYSTERIOUS SCOTTISH PATRONAGE
Ruins of Saint Andrew's Cathedral
Scotland
Andrew’s patronage in Scotland is mysterious tangle of competing history and legends. He actual became the official Patron of Scotland after Robert Bruce's victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the Declaration of Arbroath officially named Saint Andrew the patron saint of Scotland following in 1385 with the flag incorporating the saltire cross becoming Scotland’s official flag.
Two
early legends stated that in
345, Constantine the Great ordered the bones moved from Patras to
Constantinople. His messenger was another early Christian
Saint Regulus (Also called Rule) who was instructed by an angel to take the
bones from Greece to via the far northwest. The Angel told him to stop on the
Fife coast of Scotland where he founded the now city of Saint Andrew. The
Cathedral that bears Andrew’s name is a ruin and sets on the edge of the Saint
Andrew’s Golf Club, the place where the modern game of golf was invented.
A second Scottish legends states that in the 7th century, Saint Wilfrid brought some of the saint's relics with him after a pilgrimage to Rome. 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.
Scotland
was to remain without relics of the saint for many hundreds of years especially
after of the Protestant revolution of John Knox in the 16th century,
whose advocates vandalized and destroyed many of the ancient Christian relics
and churches in Scotland. Then in 1879 the Archbishop of Amalfi sent a small
piece of St Andrew's shoulder blade to the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland
where it is house the Cathedral of Blessed Virgin Mary in Edinburgh. In 1969
Pope Paul VI added more relics of the saint to Scotland with the words "Saint
Peter gives you his brother." The Scottish tradition begs for clarity.
Although, clarity may too elusive in this case. Veneration of Andrew and all
Christian saints most often comes to down faith.
ANDREW’S ITALIAN TRADITION
Fresco from the Cathedral of Andrew
in Amalfi, Italy.
Andrew’s Italian tradition is an extension of the original translation of relics from Constantinople in 345 only this is the end of that very convoluted journey. In 1208, the relics were taken to Amalfi, Italy, by Pietro, cardinal of Capua, a native of Amalfi. The Amalfi cathedral, 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.
ANDREW’S OTHER PATRONAGES
Andrew is the patron of Achaia; Amalfi, Italy; anglers; Berchtesgaden, Germany; Burgundy; diocese of Constantinople; fish dealers; fish mongers; fishermen; gout; diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Greece; Lampertheim, Germany; maidens; old maids; Patras, Greece; Plymouth, England; Russia; Scotland; singers; sore throats; Spanish armed forces; spinsters; University of Patras; unmarried women; women who wish to become mothers.
For more detailed information on national patronages, you can on this link to St. Andrew at Wikipedia. .
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