Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle
Originally from Bethsaida and a fisherman on Lake Tiberias, St. Andrew was a follower of St. John the Baptist, the Forerunner.
St John pointed out to him the person of Jesus as being the Lamb of God, and he immediately followed Him. Thus St. Andrew was the very first of the apostles to know Jesus and to leave his nets to follow Him.
St. Andrew went to see his brother Simon Peter, and said to him: “We have found the Christ,” and led him to Jesus (cf. Jn. 1:35 ff.).
In her liturgy, the Church sings of the martyrdom of St. Andrew, who loved the Cross of his divine Master so much that he aspired to imitate it with a similar death. He was crucified on a cross made up of X-shaped posts.
Prayer to St. Andrew
You whose glorious and sacred name presaged life, your name also expresses the beauty with which the Blessed Cross has nobly crowned you. Andrew, Apostle of Christ, your name alone is a sign that distinguishes you, a mystical emblem of your beauty.
O you whom the Cross lifts up to heaven, you whom the Cross loves with tenderness, you to whom the bitterness of the Cross prepares the joys of the future light, in you the mystery of the Cross shines doubly imprinted: you triumph over reproach by the Cross, and you preach the Divine Blood that watered the Cross.
Henceforth, therefore, shake off our lethargy, deign to watch over us, so that, through the victory of the Cross, we may enter the homeland of Heaven. Amen.
