Who Was Andrew?
Notes by Thomas Madron
Andrew died between 60 and 70 AD. He is celebrated by Orthodox and Roman Catholics on November
30 and is regarded by those Christians as a saint. In this capacity it is, for Roman
Catholics, the patron saint of Scotland, and for Orthodox, the patron saint of Russia.
There is some discrepancy between the "Synoptic Gospels" (each of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, describing events from a similar point of view) and the Gospel of John regarding when and where Jesus recruited Andrew. According to John, Andrew was apparently a follower of John the Baptist before becoming a disciple of Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Peter and Andrew--whose Greek name means "Manly"--were called from their fishing by Jesus to follow him, promising that he would make them fishers of men.
Peter and Andrew were partners with James and John (the other two earliest disciples) and the father of James and John, Zebedee, as fishermen and perhaps co-owners of the boat or boats they used. At the time of their calling Andrew and Peter lived together in Capernaum (Mark 1:29) although their family lived in Beth-saida. Although the stories of the call of Peter, Andrew, James and John in the Synoptic Gospels appears almost inexplicable, when placed in the context of John's narrative, it becomes more understandable and less abrupt (John 1:35-42).
Early Byzantine tradition (dependent on John 1:40) calls Andrew the "first called." Early church legends recount his missionary activity in the area about the Black Sea. Apocryphal writings centered on him include the Acts of Andrew, Acts of Andrew and Matthias, and Acts of Peter and Andrew. A 4th-century account reports his death by crucifixion, and late medieval accretions describe the cross as X-shaped. He is iconographically represented with an X-shaped cross (like that depicted on the Scottish flag).
Although we do not really know much about Andrew's ministry after Pentecost, according to ecclesiastical tradition, Andrew began his missionary activity in the Provinces of Vithynia and Pontus on the southern shores of the Black Sea. Later he journeyed to the City of Byzantium and founded the Christian Church there, ordaining the first Bishop of Byzantium, Stachys, who was one of the 70 disciples of the Lord. After Pentecost, Andrew taught in Byzantium, Thrace, Russia, Epiros, and Peloponnese. In Amisos, he converted the Jews in the temple, baptized them, healed their sick, built a church, and left a priest for them. In Bithynia, he taught, healed their sick, and drove away the wild beasts that bothered them. It is said that his prayers destroyed the pagan temples, and those who resisted his words became possessed and gnawed at their bodies until Andrew healed them.
The conversions to the Christian Faith by members of his own family infuriated the Proconsul Aegeates, and he decided, with the urging of many who advised him, to crucify Andrew. The crucifixion was carried out on an X-shaped cross with the body of the Apostle upside down so that he saw neither the earth nor his executioners, but only the sky which he glorified as the heaven in which he would meet his Lord. Aegeates had him tied to the cross in this manner so that he would live longer and suffer more.
St. Andrew's relics were translated from Patrae to Constantinople, and deposited in the church of the Apostles there, about A.D. 357. When Constantinople was taken by the French, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, Cardinal Peter of Capua brought the relics to Italy and placed them in the cathedral of Amalfi, where most of them still remain. St. Andrew is honored as their chief patron by Russia and Scotland. In September 1964 Pope Paul VI returned Andrew's head to Ptrai as a gesture of goodwill toward the separated Christians of Greece.