St. Andrew Orthodox Saint History and Name Day Information

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It is true that in the Greek Orthodox Church, we place a high importance on the lives and works of all the saints. As a result of this, Orthodox Christians are often named after the saints and they celebrate their name day each year is if it is their own birthday. One of these Saints is Andrew, referred to as Saint Andrew the First-Called or the Apostle Andrew. He is one of the original twelve disciples who were called to preach to the people about Jesus Christ. His feast day is celebrated each year on November 30th. Here’s more information about him:

Early Life of Saint Andrew

From the books of the New Testament we know that Andrew was Simon Peter’s brother, and they both were amongst the Twelve Apostles of Christ. He was born in Bethsaida, which was located in Galilee and is actually part of modern-day Israel. He was a carpenter by trade, and he was also originally a disciple of John the Baptist, or John the Forerunner. He stopped being one of John’s disciples when he learned of Jesus. He left John’s fold and became a disciple of Jesus.

Andrew Follows Christ

Andrew is referred to as the First-Called because it is fairly well known that he is considered to be the first one who began to follow Jesus. After Pentecost, Saint Andrew began his ministry. His travels took him to various places including Byzantium, Thrace, Georgia, and Kiev, which is in modern-day Ukraine.

During his work, he preached the gospel and made a positive impact. In Byzantium he appoint Saint Stachys as the first bishop of Byzantium. In Thrace, which is located on the Peloponnese, he got many people to believe that Christ is the Messiah. In Georgia, he worked hard and preached the good news of Christ. In Kiev he prophesied that Russia would have many churches and followers of Christ.

Later Years of Saint Andrew

The Apostle Andrew is one of those whose faith in Christ had him martyred. His travels finally took him to the Peloponnese in Greece where he lost his life. His remains were taken later on to Constantinople.

There is a hymn about Saint Andrew that Orthodox Christians celebrate during the Divine Liturgy. Here’s more information:

Troparion (Tone 4)

Andrew, first-called of the Apostles

and brother of the foremost disciple,

entreat the Master of all

to grant peace to the world

and to our souls great mercy.

Kontakion (Tone 2)

Let us praise Andrew, the herald of God,

the namesake of courage,

the first-called of the Savior’s disciples

and the brother of Peter.

As he once called to his brother, he now cries out to us:

“Come, for we have found the One whom the world desires!”

Saint Andrew’s name day is celebrated on November 30th of each year. Visit the Name Day page for more information about other Orthodox Christian name days.

Source:

OrthodoxWiki – Apostle Andrew

Wikipedia – Andrew the Apostle

Source for Photo Credit for Image Above

Categorized in: Greek Orthodox Religious Information

This post was written by Greek Boston