ST ANDREWS DAY NOVEMBER 30TH

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland,

St. Andrew's Day is celebrated by Scots around the world on the 30th November.

not much is known about Saint Andrew , but it is thought that he was a fisherman in Galilee along with his elder brother Simon peter, Saint peter, and they both became followers of Jesus.

Saint andrew was responsible for the spreading of the Christian religion in Asia Minor and Greece. he was killed in Patras Greece crucified on a diagonal cross, the diagonal cross is the basis of the Scottish flag.

his bones were entombed and and around 300 years later were moved by Emperor Constantine. to constantinople.

Legend suggests that a Greek Monk (although others describe him as an Irish assistant of St. Columba) called St. Rule was warned in a dream that St. Andrews remains were to be moved and was directed by an angel to take those of the remains which he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping. St. Rule dutifully followed these directions, removing a tooth, an arm bone, a kneecap and some fingers from St. Andrew's tomb and transporting these as far away as he could.

Scotland was close to the extremities of the know world at that time and it was here that St. Rule was shipwrecked along with the remains.

St. Rule is said to have come ashore at a Pictish settlement on the East Coast of Scotland and this later became St. Andrews. Thus the association of St. Andrew with Scotland was said to have begun. the relics were placed in a specially constructed chapel. This chapel was replaced by the Cathedral of St. Andrews in 1160, and St. Andrews became the religious capital of Scotland and a great centre for Medieval pilgrims who came to view the relics.

The place where these relics were kept within the Cathedral at St. Andrews is now marked by a plaque, amongst the ruins, for visitors to see.

The larger part of St. Andrew's remains were stolen from Constantinople in 1210 and are now to be found in Amalfi in Southern Italy. In 1879 the Archbishop of Amalfi sent a small piece of the Saint's shoulder blade to the re-established Roman Catholic community in Scotland

In 1969, Gordon Gray, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland was in Rome to be appointed the first Scottish Cardinal since the Reformation. Pope Paul VI gave him further relics of St. Andrew with the words "Saint Peter gives you his brother". These are now displayed in a reliquary in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh

Celebrating Saint Andrews day tends to be more popular with Scots who live abroad and there are many St. Andrew's Societies in places where Scots emigrated to. The St. Andrew's Society in Boston, in the USA, was set up in 1657.

St. Andrew's Day used to be a very popular feast day in Scotland

It was a common custom for farm workers and labourers to go "St. Andra'ing". They would catch rabbits and hares and later on in the day would feast and drink. There have been debates on and off for some time now about making St. Andrew's Day a public holiday in Scotland.

Many people wonder what they should eat on St. Andrew's day. Because Andrew was a fisherman, it seems appropriate to eat fish. Otherwise you could eat any traditional Scottish food. It used to be that a singed sheep's head was traditional.

The Scottish executive are debating this week about turning Saint Andrews day into a national holiday.....jimmy