About St Andrew
Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland
The wrecked boat splintered on the rocks. A monk stepped ashore, bare feet sinking into wet sand. He had sailed to the ends of the earth, to the far north. Regulus the monk clutched a box close to his chest: a box of sacred relics, the bones of St Andrew.
St Andrew was born in Bethsaida in Galilee. He became a fisherman like his father and his brother Simon Peter. He spoke Aramaic and was brought up as a Jew. The Bible names Andrew as one of first of the 12 disciples of Jesus.
‘And passing along by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, 'Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.' And straightway they left the nets, and followed him.’
(Mark 1: 16-18)
In the New Testament story of the feeding of the five thousand, it was Andrew who introduced the boy with five loaves and two small fishes to Jesus.
After the resurrection Andrew spread the word, travelling north to Scythia, the southern steppes of Russia. He was martyred in Patras in Greece, on the orders of a Roman governor during the reign of the Emperor Nero. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross on 30 November, 60 AD.
Legend tells that Emperor Constantine the Great planned to take St Andrew’s bones from Patras to Constantinople. A monk named Regulus was warned by an angel of the Emperor’s plan. In a dream the angel told Regulus to hide an arm bone, a tooth, a part of one knee and some fingers of St Andrew.
The monk did as the angel said and the Emperor took the rest of St Andrew's bones. Again the angel appeared and told the monk Regulus to sail north to the ends of the earth. There, his boat would be wrecked but Regulus would find a safe haven.
Regulus and a group of holy men were at sea for many months. They sailed further and further north until their boat struck rocks off the coast of Fife. The monk stepped out onto the shore of Pictland at a place called Muckross or Kilryment, bearing the relics of St Andrew.
The monk and the holy men were given land to build a church by a Pictish king. In time the monk’s wooden church was replaced by a stone church. Today, among the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral stands St Rule’s Tower, named after the monk Regulus or Rule.
Kilryment grew into the town of St Andrews and became a centre of medieval pilgrimage. St Andrews also became a centre of learning. In 1413 St Andrews University, the oldest university in Scotland, was founded.
In 1320, in a letter to the Pope now known as the Declaration of Arbroath, the nobles of Scotland noted St Andrew’s role as national patron.
‘… our Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, called them, even though settled in the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the first to His most holy faith. Nor would He have them confirmed in that faith by merely anyone but by the first of His Apostles - by calling, though second or third in rank - the most gentle Saint Andrew, the Blessed Peter's brother, and desired him to keep them under his protection as their patron forever.’
Blind Harry tells us that William Wallace once met an old man in a dream at Monkton Church near Ayr. Wallace dreamt that the old man took him to the peak of a high mountain where he saw the land burning, all of Scotland aflame. The old man gave Wallace a sword. A wondrous lady appeared and made the sign of the cross on Wallace’s face with a sapphire. She gave Wallace a red wand, a green wand, and a book of brass, silver and gold.
The old man was said to be St Andrew, who gave Wallace the sword to free Scotland. The lady was the Virgin Mary, the book was the history of Scotland, the green wand signified governance, the red the blood that Wallace was destined to shed, and the cross on Wallace’s face was the mark of the Saltire.
St Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland, the Saltire became the national flag, and around the world Scots celebrate St Andrew’s Day on 30 November.