Happy St Andrews Day!!

[McG]

A wid like tae tuk this opportunity in wishing ye aw a "Happy St Andrews" day an' dae somehing a wee bit maire special in celebrating oor patron saint. We hae many many hings oan here including the world biggest "Gay Gordons" a micht join in even though a hae feet like biscuit tins!!!
Hae a braw day an' it go's wi' oot saying "strap yer kilt oan" ....... go oan tuk a dram..

Slainte Mhath!!!!

[beloitpiper]

I'll be wearing my kilt tomorrow for St. Andrew's Day!

[McMurdo]

Thanks McG
I hope you have a good St. Andrews Day as well.

[McFarkus]

I wearing it to church on Sunday in honor of St. Andrew's Day along with my new Thorfinn Sporran

[ChromeScholar]

I'll be wearing a kilt tomorrow. First to work, then out on the town (I think). If any of the Arizona kilted rabble are interested, one hell of a good jazz trio is playing at the Raven Cafe in Prescott tomorrow night.

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

Happy St. Andrews Day to all.
I am on Shortbread cookie duty for our St.Andrews Day lunch at work. Half of our office is from England and the other half is of Scottish origin. It can get kind of funny around our office. On St. George's day we have a fish and chip lunch and St. Andrews day shortbread cookies after lunch. I am going to the office kilted this year. A co-worker has recently become kilted and wants me to make sure he gets everything on correctly. Plus if there is two of us kilted no one will mess with us!!
Enjoy the day all!
Sara

[Nighthawk]

Right back at you all! I don't usually go to work armed, but I will be wearing my thistle sgain dubh tomorrow.

[RowdyRed]

Yea!!
My St. Andrews ladies skirt has been languishing in the back of the closet, due to hateful Texas weather.

But it should be nice and breezy tomorrow to wear to our Scottish Country Dancing ceilidh! I will try and remember to take pics of the grand time!

[Jennifer D]

Happy St Andrew's Day to all!

[Prester John]

Happy St. Andrew Day!

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ (John 1:35-42). The future apostle was from Bethsaida, and from his youth he turned with all his soul to God. He did not enter into marriage, and he worked with his brother as a fisherman. When the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John began to preach, St Andrew became his closest disciple. St John the Baptist himself sent to Christ his own two disciples, the future Apostles Andrew and John the Theologian, declaring Christ to be the Lamb of God.

After the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, St Andrew went to the Eastern lands preaching the Word of God. He went through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, he reached the River Danube, went along the coast of the Black Sea, through Crimea, the Black Sea region and along the River Dniepr he climbed to the place where the city of Kiev now stands.

He stopped overnight on the hills of Kiev. Rising in the morning, he said to those disciples that were with him: "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." The apostle went up around the hills, blessed them and set up a cross. Having prayed, he went up even further along the Dniepr and reached a settlement of the Slavs, where Novgorod was built. From here the apostle went through the land of the Varangians towards Rome for preaching, and again he returned to Thrace, where in the small village of Byzantium, the future Constantinople, he founded the Church of Christ. The name of the holy Apostle Andrew links the mother, the Church of Constantinople, with her daughter, the Russian Church.

On his journeys the First-Called Apostle endured many sufferings and torments from pagans: they cast him out of their cities and they beat him. In Sinope they pelted him with stones, but remaining unharmed, the persistant disciple of Christ continued to preach to people about the Savior. Through the prayers of the Apostle, the Lord worked miracles. By the labors of the holy Apostle Andrew, Christian Churches were established, for which he provided bishops and clergy. The final city to which the Apostle came was the city of Patra, where he was destined to suffer martyrdom.

The Lord worked many miracles through His disciple in Patra. The infirm were made whole, and the blind received their sight. Through the prayers of the Apostle, the illustrious citizen Sosios recovered from serious illness; he healed Maximilla, wife of the governor of Patra, and his brother Stratokles. The miracles accomplished by the Apostle and his fiery speech enlightened almost all the citizens of the city of Patra with the true Faith.

Few pagans remained at Patra, but among them was the prefect of the city, Aegeatos. The Apostle Andrew repeatedly turned to him with the words of the Gospel. But even the miracles of the Apostle did not convince Aegeatos. The holy Apostle with love and humility appealed to his soul, striving to reveal to him the Christian mystery of life eternal, through the wonderworking power of the Holy Cross of the Lord. The angry Aegeatos gave orders to crucify the apostle. The pagan thought he might undo St Andrew's preaching if he were to put him to death on the cross.

St Andrew the First-Called accepted the decision of the prefect with joy and with prayer to the Lord, and went willingly to the place of execution. In order to prolong the suffering of the saint, Aegeatos gave orders not to nail the saint's hands and feet, but to tie them to the cross. For two days the apostle taught the citizens who gathered about. The people, in listening to him, with all their souls pitied him and tried to take St Andrew down from the cross. Fearing a riot of the people, Aegeatos gave orders to stop the execution. But the holy apostle began to pray that the Lord would grant him death on the cross. Just as the soldiers tried to take hold of the Apostle Andrew, they lost control of their hands. The crucified apostle, having given glory to God, said: "Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit." Then a blazing ray of divine light illumined the cross and the martyr crucified upon it. When the light faded, the holy Apostle Andrew had already given up his holy soul to the Lord. Maximilla, the wife of the prefect, had the body of the saint taken down from the cross, and buried him with honor.

A few centuries later, under the emperor Constantine the Great, the relics of the holy Apostle Andrew were solemnly transferred to Constantinople and placed in the church of the Holy Apostles beside the relics of the holy Evangelist Luke and St Paul's disciple St Timothy.

From the Orthodox Church in America website.