St. Andrew

We humbly beseech Thy Majesty, 0
Lord, that as the blessed Apostle
Andrew was once a teacher and ruler
of Thy Church, so he may ever be
our advocate with Thee. Through our
Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
0 Christ, our Lord, Who didst beautify the most blessed Andrew with the grace of apostleship, and the crown of martydom, by granting to him this special gift, that by preaching the mystery of the cross, he should merit death on the cross; grant us to become most true lovers of Thy holy cross, and, denying ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Thee; that by sharing Thy suffefngs in this life, we
may deserve the happiness of obtaining life everlasting. Amen.
}

Nicephorus (H.E. II:39), relying upon early writers, states that Andrew preached in Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, then in the land of the anthropophagi and the Scythian deserts, afterwards in Byzantium itself, where he appointed St. Stachys as its first bishop, and finally in Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and Achaia. It is generally agreed that he was crucified by order of the Roman Governor, Aegeas or Aegeates, at Patrae in Achaia, and that he was bound, not nailed, to the cross, in order to prolong his sufferings. The cross on which he suffered is commonly held to have been the decussate cross, now known as St. Andrew's, though the evidence for this view seems to be no older than the fourteenth century. His martyrdom took place during the reign of Nero, on 30 November, A.D. 60); and both the Latin and Greek Churches keep 30 November as his feast.

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 honoured as their chief patron by Russia and Scotland.