Commemorated on November
30th
Andrew, called Protokletos, or "First-called," was the first man
beckoned by the Son of God. He, like, his brother Peter, was a fisherman, a
toiler with net and boat recognized in the Psalms of the Old Testament as one of
those "who go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these
see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep." His love of the sea
stemmed from his love of the Creator Who made it, and the perils of the sea
which he challenged daily forged the character with which he boldly assailed the
seas of ignorance and paganism in the sacred trust that had been placed in his
keeping.
Andrew, who lived in the Holy Land in the ancient city of
Bethsaida, accepted Christ with all his heart and after an indoctrination with
St. John the Baptist went forth to become one of the greatest missionaries in
all history. When the apostles drew lots to determine their sphere of labor for
the Savior, Andrew exulted in his mission to preach in Asia Minor, part of
Greece, and an area along the coast of the Black Sea, including its gateway, the
city now known as Istanbul, or Constantinople. Wherever Andrew went he
attracted throngs of people who thirsted for a spiritual knowledge. His message
of deliverance was so eloquently convincing, even to hostile minds, that he is
credited with having converted countless thousands to Christianity in a day when
mass media did not exist As an apostle, his only tools were his power of
oratory and his love for Jesus, and his only press agent was the word of mouth
of those privileged to hear his homilies.
Andrew came to Jerusalem for the First Synod of the Apostles,
about 50 A.D., another historic first for him and the other apostles, some of
whom he had not yet met. There he rejoiced in joining the great Saint Peter
together with those but for whom Christianity might never have become the
glorious human experience it is today. Out of the Synod, the apostles went
forth with renewed vigor to establish the ecclesiastical system. Andrew alone
is credited with having set up parishes throughout Asia Minor, in Pontos,
Bithynia, Thrace, Macedonia, Greece, Scythia (Russia, where he is still regarded
as patron saint) and in the capital city of Byzantium.
It was in Byzantium that Andrew ordained Stachys as first bishop
of Byzantium (later Constantinople), thereby establishing an unbroken line of
276patriarchs down to the pres day Patriarch Demetrios, who succeeded the
renowned former archbishop of North and South America, Athenagoras I. From
Byzantium, Andrew went on to more glory through his compelling oratory and power
of healing through Jesus Christ. He eventually found himself in Achaia, in the
city of Patras, where he was to suffer death.
Andrew committed the grave crime in the eyes of the state of
converting Maximilla, wife of the ruler Aigeates, to Christianity. Despite the
fact that he was then eighty years old, it was ordered that he be put to death
by being nailed to an X-shaped cross. After three days of agony on this vile
device, Andrew died. The great fisherman had cast his net for Christ for the
last time.
Andrew's remains were brought to Constantinople two hundred
years later and in 1460 his head was given to the pope. On September 24, 1964,
in an ecumenical gesture, the head was returned to the people of Patras by the
pope.
Source: Orthodox Saints, Spiritual Profiles for Modern
Man October 1 to December 31, by George Poulos.
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