Sunday November 30th. 2008
Feast of St. Andrew
transferred to Monday,
December 1st.
transferred to Monday,
December 1st.
St. Andrew was the brother of St. Peter, and it was he who first recognised Our Lord as the Messiah, and took Peter to meet Christ. He was martyred by being crucified on a diagonal cross in Patras, Greece, and his relics were later taken to Rome by the Emperor Constantine.
Before this happened, tradition tells us that
a monk called St Rule took some of the Apostles bones to Britain for safety in case the rest were lost, and finally reached a remote part of Scotland. It is also probable that Accas, the Bishop of Hexham, took the relics to Scotland in the early part of the 8th century. The church where the relics were enshrined gave its name to the town—St. Andrews.
Thousands came on pilgrimage from all over to honour the Apostles relics. St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, established a ferry to shorten the pilgrims’ journey, and to this day it is still known as Queensferry.
Sadly, at the Reformation, the church was desecrated and destroyed and the relics lost.
Before this happened, tradition tells us that
a monk called St Rule took some of the Apostles bones to Britain for safety in case the rest were lost, and finally reached a remote part of Scotland. It is also probable that Accas, the Bishop of Hexham, took the relics to Scotland in the early part of the 8th century. The church where the relics were enshrined gave its name to the town—St. Andrews.
Thousands came on pilgrimage from all over to honour the Apostles relics. St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland, established a ferry to shorten the pilgrims’ journey, and to this day it is still known as Queensferry.
Sadly, at the Reformation, the church was desecrated and destroyed and the relics lost.
However, Pope Paul VI gave part of the Apostle's bone to the late Cardinal Gordon Gray, and this is now in a reliquary on St. Andrew's altar in St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh.
A decisive victory was won by the Pictish King, Angus, when he was faced with an invading army. His prayers were answered when a white diagonal cross against a blue sky appeared above them.
After the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert the Bruce proclaimed St. Andrew as Scotland's new patron.
A movement is very strong among certain politicians to make St. Andrew’s Day a national holiday in Scotland.
Let us always remember that Andrew, and his brother Peter, were simple fishermen, who had no idea what lay before them,
They accepted Our Lord’s invitation to follow him, and became the pillars of the Church. They were both crucified for preaching the gospel of Christ. Their lives are a reminder to us all that with God’s grace anything is possible in our own lives if we follow God’s Will.
A decisive victory was won by the Pictish King, Angus, when he was faced with an invading army. His prayers were answered when a white diagonal cross against a blue sky appeared above them.
After the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Robert the Bruce proclaimed St. Andrew as Scotland's new patron.
A movement is very strong among certain politicians to make St. Andrew’s Day a national holiday in Scotland.
Let us always remember that Andrew, and his brother Peter, were simple fishermen, who had no idea what lay before them,
They accepted Our Lord’s invitation to follow him, and became the pillars of the Church. They were both crucified for preaching the gospel of Christ. Their lives are a reminder to us all that with God’s grace anything is possible in our own lives if we follow God’s Will.
St. Andrew, pray for us