Rob

🔸 November 30 - The Holy Apostle Andrew ✖🔸 Today, we commemorate the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. St Andrew was from the city of Bethsaida, and worked as a fisherman with his brother the Apostle Peter. A disciple of John the Forerunner, Andrew was with him when he pointed to Jesus and said “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-40). Andrew thus became the first Apostle to follow Christ, and also brought his brother Peter to the Lord saying to him, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). After Pentecost, St Andrew preached the Gospel through the eastern lands of Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, along the River Danube and the Black Sea, through Crimea, and along the River Dniepr to Kiev. Climbing up the hills of Kiev, the Holy Apostle said to his disciples: “See these hills? Upon these hills shall shine forth the beneficence of God, and there will be a great city here, and God shall raise up many churches.” He then had a large cross planted on the hill. He also founded the Church in Byzantium (future Constantinople) and ordained St Stachys as its first Bishop. Undeterred by the sufferings he endured from the pagans, including being beaten and pelted with stones, St Andrew continued to preach the Gospel of Christ, and performed many miracles including healing the sick and blind. Arriving in the city of Patra, he healed from serious illness Maximilla and Stratokles, the wife and brother of the governor. The Apostle’s miracles and eloquent speech brought almost all the citizens of Patra to Christ, infuriating the city’s pagan prefect Aegeatos. Seeking to put an end to the Apostle’s preaching, Aegeatos ordered him to be crucified upside down on an ‘X’ shaped cross. For 2 days while on the cross, the Apostle continued preaching to those who gathered around him. Fearing a riot from the people who were deeply moved by the Apostle’s words, Aegeatos gave orders to stop the execution. Just as the soldiers tried to bring the Apostle down, he prayed to the Lord and delivered his soul. St Andrew’s holy skull and the cross on which he was crucified can be seen today at the site of his martyrdom in the grand Church of Saint Andrew in Patra, Greece.