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Orthodoxy is rich in the faces of Saints. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out who to pray to and what to ask for. Each icon has its own purpose. For example, many have heard about the icon of St. Andrew the First-Called. What does it mean and what is it responsible for? Let's talk about everything in detail.
Life of St. Andrew the First-Called
In ordinary life, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called was called Andrei Zavedeev. He was a simple fisherman. He was often interested in various spiritual issues. When he met John the Baptist, he became his disciple. Many considered him the Messiah Himself. He denied this and said that he was the one who was preparing this path for Him. Andrew the First-Called and his brother followed the prophet.
One day, during a baptism in the Jordan, they saw their mentor pointing his finger at a man. He said that it was he who would take upon himself the sins of people. It was after this that Peter also joined the disciples of the Lord. For some time they still lived with their families and fished for food, although later they devoted themselves to serving God. There is not much information about Andrei himself; more information is about his actions.
Andrew the First-Called was next to the Lord throughout His entire life: at the Last Supper, after His Resurrection, at the Ascension of the Lord, and also the Holy Spirit descended on him at Pentecost. After this, all the apostles chose by lot the countries where they were to go to preach the Christian faith. He inherited the Black Sea coast and territory further north.
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Many historians believe that he was in Crimea, parts of Ukraine, Kuban and the Caucasus. Although there is no exact confirmation of this information.
Just like the rest of the apostles, his teaching met resistance from the pagans. Sometimes it even brought him not only spiritual, but also physical suffering.
In order to convince people of the correctness of following the Christian faith, Andrew the First-Called performed many miracles thanks to his prayers. Seeing such miracles, many people joined Orthodoxy.
During the persecution of Christians, Andrei returned to Rome. There he decided to defend and defend the Christian faith before the Roman governor Aegeat. In this dispute, Egeat said that the apostle would die the same death as his Teacher. He was captured and put in prison, where he awaited execution. People understood that he was innocent and even wanted to start a riot. But Andrei dissuaded them, saying that such suffering would bring him eternal glory.
He hung on the slanting cross for two days as an apostle and continued calling for humility and reading sermons. It was a painful death and after it he went to God.
Feast of St. Andrew the First-Called
Each saint has his own day of remembrance. So, the day of remembrance of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called is considered to be December 13 and July 13. It is on this day that many go to temples and read prayers.
The character and life path of Andrei in a secular interpretation
Since childhood, Andreika has been a curious, active leader. He takes part in all the fun, organizes them himself, jokes and laughs contagiously. Has a rich imagination. Loves active, noisy games.
Everyone loves him, is touched, and praises him. Andryusha has an inquisitive mind, the depth and kindness of his soul is amazing. Those around him are jealous of him, believing that he is lucky. But the young man himself is the “smith” of his own happiness. Remembers to work hard to achieve results.
Always in good standing with the team, non-conflicting.
Can work in different fields: from creative professions to law enforcement agencies. An excellent lawyer and speaker. He will succeed in business, tends to hoard, and is stingy.
He chooses a woman himself, often older than himself, in which he experiences deep disappointment over time. At an older age, having solid material luggage and a stable career, he marries a bright, young lady. Children appear again, whom Andrei loves selflessly, just like the children from his first marriage. A good father, family man.
Men with this name are happy, fate is generous to them. They help relatives, actively relax, and love traveling.
What do they pray to St. Andrew the First-Called?
Most often this Saint is approached with requests for:
- Conversion to Christianity
- Help for seafarers
- Defense of the Fatherland
- Help for foreign language teachers and translators
- Strengthening Faith
- Unity of the people under Christian leadership
- Happy marriage.
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How does Andrew the First-Called help? Most often, sailors and their families turn to him. Before going to sea, they even hold a service specifically for St. Andrew the First-Called. This is done so that he helps them on the hike, as well as for a safe return home. The flag of the navy also depicts the St. Andrew's Cross.
Church form of the name
The name is Greek, Russian: it means “brave”, “courageous” and “brave”.
The most famous saint is considered to be Andrew the First-Called, one of the twelve apostles, disciples of Jesus.
According to church code, the name sounds like “Andrey”.
Many Slavic countries have their own variations of the name: Andriy, Ondrey, Ondrya, Andrzej, Andrew, Adrian, Andrian, Andreas, Henri, Andris. There are a great many of them.
In Russia, the diminutive, everyday form of the name is also incredibly diverse: Andreika, Andryushka, Andryukha, Andreychik, Dryulya, Andryulya, Andrya, Andrian.
Many powerful and noble persons, church hierarchs who went down in history were named after Andrei.
Icon of St. Andrew the First-Called
There are many icons and copies of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called in the world. Here are some temples where you can see such holy faces:
- Church of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called in Moscow at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. There is a revered icon of this Saint.
- Church of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” on Ordynka, where the icon with a piece of relics is located
- Temple of Sioni (Assumption of the Mother of God) in Georgia, where the myrrh-streaming icon is located
- Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Tbilisi. The icon that is there is unusual. It is carved from wood.
There are also other venerated relics and icons of this Saint. They are:
- Pyzhki Moscow - St. Nicholas Church
- Kuzminki Moscow - Temple of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God
- Golyanov – Church of St. Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky
- Diveevo - Church of St. Andrew the First-Called.
You can pray to this Saint at the image of his face. And here is the prayer itself to the Apostle Andrew the First-Called:
First-Called Apostle of God and our Savior Jesus Christ, Church follower, all-praised Andrew! We glorify and magnify your apostolic works, we sweetly remember your blessed coming to us, we bless your honorable suffering, which you endured for Christ, we kiss your sacred relics, we honor your holy memory and believe that the Lord lives, and your soul lives and is with Him. forever remain in heaven, where you love us with the same love with which you loved us, when by the Holy Spirit you saw our conversion to Christ, and not only loved, but also prayed to God for us, in vain in His light all our needs.
Thus we believe and thus we confess this faith in the temple, which in thy name, Saint Andrew, was most gloriously created, where thy holy relics rest: believing, we ask and pray to the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ, that through thy prayers he may ever hear and he accepts and will give us everything we need for the salvation of us sinners: yes, as you are, according to the voice of the Lord, leave your hesitation, you have steadfastly followed Him, and let everyone from us seek not his own, but for the creation of his neighbor and for the heavenly calling, yes thinks.
Having you as an intercessor and prayer book for us, we hope that your prayer can accomplish much before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Father and the Holy Spirit and forever and ever. Amen.
It doesn’t matter what words you use to ask for help. The main thing is that they come from a pure heart.
The Lord is always with you!
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Watch the video about the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called:
When to celebrate name day?
Today there are many saints with the same names in the church calendar. However, let's return to the topic of our conversation. As mentioned earlier, Andrei’s name day occurs almost every month. You should not celebrate them as often as modern people do out of ignorance. True Angel Day is celebrated once a year, choosing a date as close as possible to the person’s birthday. Only that Saint Andrew, whose name day is close to the date of birth of the child, is his patron; the other saints are not associated with him.
Currently, the tradition of celebrating name days is gradually being revived. More and more parents are choosing a nickname for their baby according to the Orthodox calendar. The name Andrey is one of the most common in our country.
Name day
Saint Theodore of Edessa writes that the Lord gives each person two guardians, the first is a guardian angel who protects him from all misfortunes and evil and helps him do good deeds. And the second one is a saint. He intercedes with God with prayers for his ward. They constantly strive to fill their souls with love for their Creator and their neighbors.
Ambrose of Optina said that according to your name let life be. A person named after a saint must understand that this is not only his patron, but also a worthy role model. And for this you need to know his life well. Is it possible to imitate Christ for the sake of the holy fool? Of course not, but we must learn to cultivate the will, humility and patience in ourselves in order to persevere through all life’s difficulties. One must be able to fight self-love and pride, as all the saints did.
Celebrating the image
The date when Orthodox Christians honor St. Andrew the First-Called falls on December 13th. People usually call it St. Andrew's Day. Prayers addressed to the icon of the apostle on this holiday acquire great power. Dreams that you had the day before are considered prophetic and fateful.
On the Day of the Icon of St. Andrew the First-Called, solemn church services are held. They should be attended by people whose activities involve risks (military, sailors, those who often leave home for a long time), girls who want to get married safely this year. With the arrival of St. Andrew's Day, they put off all work and organize family feasts. During the celebration, you should avoid noise and behave with restraint. You can only eat light food, because during this period Christians need to adhere to the Nativity Fast.
The Path to Holiness
Jesus Christ called brothers Peter and Andrew to follow him while they were fishing. And they became “catchers” of human souls. After this, Andrei was present at all important events in the earthly life of the Lord.
After Pentecost, the apostle went to preach the Word of God to other nations. This apostle was especially revered in Rus', because there is a legend that the Apostle Andrew was sent to Russian lands for the birth of Christianity here.
Icon of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called
Like many of Christ’s apostles, Andrew died a martyr’s death. Preaching in the Greek city of Patras, Andrei performed miracles of healing and converted people to Christianity. The local ruler Egeat did not like this. He ordered the apostle to be crucified on the cross. Andrei was glad to accept such a death for the sake of the Savior. His preaching showed the power of the Lord and opened the eyes of the people, but not Egeat. The latter ordered to make the apostle’s suffering painful. Andrew the First-Called was tied to an X-shaped cross.
Read about the apostles:
Icon of the 12 ApostlesFeast of the Apostles Peter and PaulIcon of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
In the last minutes of his life, heavenly light shone over him and he departed to the Lord.
Interesting! The Apostle Andrew converted the wife and brother of the ruler Egeat to Christianity. But Egeat rejected the teachings of the apostle, for which he was punished by the Lord and died in agony.
Apostle Andrew lived in Patras for many years. Here, thanks to his works and sermons, a small community of Christians gathered. She made sure that the relics remained in the city.
In the fourth century, Emperor Constantius II ordered the relics to be transferred to Constantinople. In the tenth century the head of the holy apostle was transferred from Constantinople to the city of Patras. During the siege of the city by the Ottomans, Emperor Palaiologos ordered the honest head to be taken to Rome. Here it was kept in the famous St. Peter's Basilica for more than 500 years.
The city of Patras and its Christian community only solemnly accepted the holy head back in 1964. At that time, two churches were built in the city. They were located not far from each other. One of them contained the finger of the apostle, which was donated by Russian church historian Andrei Muravyov. At the beginning of the 20th century, a new white marble temple was erected. Money was allocated from the treasury of the sovereign-emperor for its construction. The temple was built on the site of the crucifixion of the apostle. The head of the apostle and part of the cross on which he was crucified are kept under the canopy of the temple.
Important! The Apostle's Memorial Day is celebrated on December 13th. On this day, the clergy and laity carry the ark with relics throughout the city.
