St Andrew was an apostle of Jesus and according to the New Testament, a fisherman and brother of St Peter. As Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he observed Peter and Andrew fishing, and called them to be fishers of men. He was born in Bethsaida in Galilee sometime between 5 and 10AD.

After Jesus’s death, resurrection and ascension, tradition has it that Andrew preached in Scythia, (Iran) and along the Black Sea and Dnieper river as far as Kyiv, and from there he travelled to Novgorod (Russia). He also preached in Thrace (Bulgaria/Greece), and founded the Diocesde of Byzantium (later Constantinople) in AD38, which eventually became the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Greece) in AD60, apparently on an X-shaped cross or saltire, now commonly known as the ‘Saint Andrew's Cross’, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus.

St Andres is patron saint of Scotland and the saltire is the national flag. Legend has it that his relics were brought from Constantinople to where the modern Scottish town of St Andrews stands today. Apparently in AD832, Óengus II, King of the Picts, led an army of Picts and Scots into battle against the Angles. He was heavily outnumbered and vowed that he would appoint Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland if he was victorious. On the morning of battle white clouds forming an X shape are said to have appeared in the sky. Óengus and his forces, were so emboldened by this apparent divine intervention, that, despite being inferior in numbers, they were victorious. The white saltire set against a celestial blue of the sky was adopted as their flag.

St. Andrew was also patron saint of the Dukes of Burgundy and a form of the St Andrew's Cross, called the Cross of Burgendy, was used as their flag. Following the Treaty of Madrid in 1526, the Spanish Crown laid claim to the Duchy of Burgundy, and the saltire was for a while the flag of the Spanish Empire, Still today it forms part of the coat of arms of the prince of Spain and the flag of Tenerife. As a result, St Andrew is the patron of many towns in Spain and a significant number of churches here are named after him.

Other countries of which Andrew is patron saint include Barbados, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. As founder of the Church of Byzantium, he is also patron saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Pope Benedict thus called him "the Apostle of the Greek world," and since he is the brother of St. Peter, the first bishop of Rome, their brotherhood is "symbolically expressed in the special reciprocal relations of the See of Rome and of Constantinople, which are truly Sister Churches.". He is also the saint of fishmongers, gout, singers, sore throats, spinsters, maidens, old maids and women wishing to become mothers.

Picture above: St Andrew and his cross. The pictrue of St Andrew on the left is by Jojojoe - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9057910