Results 1 to 7 of 7
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat
    dirk diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 01:08 PM
    Location
    Down South
    Posts
    8,440

    Happy St. Andrew's Day

    The patron saint of Scotland celebrates his feast day on November 30.

    At the end of November every year Scots come together to celebrate the feast day of our patron saint.
    Saint Andrew is a much loved figure not only here, but also in countries as far reaching as Barbados, Greece, Russia, Colombia, Romania and Cyprus where he is also the patron saint.
    But how much do we know about the saint and why we celebrate his life?


    Andrew began his life as a fisherman in Galilee.
    The elder brother of Saint Peter he was called by Jesus to become a "fisher of men". For this reason, he is often depicted in paintings with a fishing net.
    A key figure in the story of Jesus, Andrew is involved in many of the major moment's of his life including the last supper.

    Later in his life he is said to have preached as far away as Romania, Ukraine and Russia.


    Death



    Engraving depicting Saint Andrew standing by an 'X' shaped crucifix. (Image: Kean Collection/Getty Images)Andrew was eventually martyred in the city of Patras in western Greece, where he died by crucifixion following persecution from the Roman Emperor Nero, around 60AD.
    Early versions of his story say he was bound, not nailed, to a cross similar to the kind on which Jesus died on but later accounts added that he was killed on X-shaped cross after deeming himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Christ.
    There are said to be relics of Andrew scattered within the many countries who claim him as their patron saint.
    These relics are kept at the Basilica of St Andrew in Greece, in Amalfi Cathedal (the Duomo di Sant'Andrea) in Italy, St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh and the Church of St Andrew and St Albert in Poland.


    Scottish Legacy

    The saint's earliest connections to Scotland are thought to date back to the reign of Malcolm III (1034 -1093).
    With the King said to have moved the Samhain (or, Halloween, as we now know it) festivities to coincide with the earliest St Andrew's Day in order to make sure that enough animals were kept alive for the winter food stocks.
    According to legend, in 832 AD, the king of the Picts, Ķengus II, led an army of Picts and Scots into battle against the Angles.
    Heavily outnumbered and, in a pre-battle prayer, Ķengus vowed that if granted victory he would appoint Saint Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland.
    On the morning of battle, white clouds formed an X shape in the sky. Ķengus took this as a sign as it represented the cross upon which the Saint was crucified and so honoured his prayer, appointing Andrew as our patron saint.
    This eventually led to the Saltire being adopted as the Scottish flag.
    Myths and legends

    No one is sure how the relics of St Andrew arrived on Scotland's shores.
    One story has it that a man known as Regulus (or St Rule) was said to have had a dream from God that he should take St Andrew's body after his death and hide it.
    Following a second dream, in which an angel advised him to take it to the 'ends of the earth' to protect it, St Rule took as much of the body as he could on a wooden boat with him and set sail.
    Sailing west he would eventually be shipwrecked on the coast of Fife in Scotland in the area that would become St Andrews.
    However, a more prosiac explanation is probably that of the relics being brought to Britain, and eventually Scotland, by Bishop Acca of Hexham, a known collector in 732.
    Another local superstition uses the cross of Saint Andrew as a hex sign on the fireplaces in to prevent witches from flying down the chimney and entering the house to cause harm.
    Lang may yer lum reek...

  2. #2
    En route
    Cujo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Last Online
    24-02-2024 @ 04:47 PM
    Location
    Reality.
    Posts
    32,939
    So are the Catholics claiming him or some other cult movement .

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat
    dirk diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 01:08 PM
    Location
    Down South
    Posts
    8,440
    I'd hazard a guess that they hadn't quite figured out the difference in mushrooms back in the Biblical times.

  4. #4
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    So then.

    How do we celebrate?

    Get pished on Buckfast and plunder the Wembley goalposts?


  5. #5
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,555
    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke View Post
    So then.

    How do we celebrate?

    Get pished on Buckfast and plunder the Wembley goalposts?

    You're supposed to lie in a pool of your own piss at Victoria station singing "If I ruled the world" badly with an outstretched hand.

  6. #6
    Gohills flip-flops wearer
    withnallstoke's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 10:43 PM
    Location
    The Felcher Memorial Home.
    Posts
    14,570
    ^ Mor Chit station ok as a substitute?

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat
    dirk diggler's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Last Online
    Yesterday @ 01:08 PM
    Location
    Down South
    Posts
    8,440
    Quote Originally Posted by withnallstoke View Post
    So then.

    How do we celebrate?

    Get pished on Buckfast and plunder the Wembley goalposts?

    Sounds like a good start to me.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •