St. Andrew the First-Called
St. Andrew, a fisherman from Bethsaida and the brother of the Apostle Peter, was a disciple of St. John the Baptist before becoming the first apostle called by Christ, and he immediately brought his brother to the Lord, saying, "We have found the Messiah."
After Pentecost he preached the Gospel in Byzantium, Thrace, and the lands along the Danube and around the Black Sea, reaching as far as the hills of the future Kiev, and finally came to Greece. In the city of Patras he was crucified by the proconsul Aegeates around the year 62, bound rather than nailed to a cross so that his sufferings would be prolonged, and he continued to preach from the cross until his death. His relics were later transferred to Constantinople, and he is honored as the founder of that Church and the patron of Greece, Russia, and Scotland.
We have found the Messiah, which is translated, the Christ.
There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?
Greetings, O Cross! God sanctified you, Christ sanctified you with His body. O Cross, be my resting place. From the dust of the earth take me; to God in the highest raise me up, and let Christ receive me from you, the very Christ Who, because of me, was crucified on you.
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.
Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.
Troparion · Tone 4
O Andrew, as the First-called of the Apostles and brother of their Leader, entreat the Master of all to grant peace to the world and to our souls great mercy.
Kontakion · Tone 2
Let us praise Andrew, the divine preacher, the namesake of courage, the first-called of the Savior's disciples and the kinsman of Peter. As he once called to his brother, he now cries out to us: "Come, for we have found Him Whom the world desires!"
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