Look out Santa! When St. Andrew's Saltire is hung next to a fireplace, it prevents beings from flying down chimneys. Did you know that? Today is St. Andrew's Day. Do you know who Saint Andrew is?
Andrew was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He was crucified in Patras, Achaea, on an X-shaped cross. This is represented on the Saltire (the white x) on Scotland’s national flag.
He was buried originally in Constantinople; his skull was later exhumed and returned to Patras in the ninth century by Emperor Basil I. The rest of his body was taken to Amalfi in Italy by Cardinal Peter of Capua after Constantinople was sacked in 1208.
The saint’s bones either first arrived in Scotland when an angel told the Greek monk Regulus to bring the relics to “the end of the earth” in 345 or they reached Britain with an Augustine Mission in 597. One of Andrew's shoulder blades was gifted to Scotland by the Archbishop of Amalfi in 1879 and Pope Paul VI presented further remains to the nation in 1969.
Andrew was first hailed as Scotland’s patron saint in 832, after Oengus II led an army of Picts and Scots to victory in a battle against Aethelstan’s Angles at East Lothian. Oengus was facing defeat until he saw an X-shaped cloud in the sky symbolizing Divine intervention. He promised to name a day in St. Andrew's honour if his army carried the day. It did. His pledge was made official in 1320 when Scotland announced its independence from England with the Declaration of Arbroath.
St. Andrew, it appears still represents the force to be reckoned with so look out Santa!
Andrew was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He was crucified in Patras, Achaea, on an X-shaped cross. This is represented on the Saltire (the white x) on Scotland’s national flag.
He was buried originally in Constantinople; his skull was later exhumed and returned to Patras in the ninth century by Emperor Basil I. The rest of his body was taken to Amalfi in Italy by Cardinal Peter of Capua after Constantinople was sacked in 1208.
The saint’s bones either first arrived in Scotland when an angel told the Greek monk Regulus to bring the relics to “the end of the earth” in 345 or they reached Britain with an Augustine Mission in 597. One of Andrew's shoulder blades was gifted to Scotland by the Archbishop of Amalfi in 1879 and Pope Paul VI presented further remains to the nation in 1969.
Andrew was first hailed as Scotland’s patron saint in 832, after Oengus II led an army of Picts and Scots to victory in a battle against Aethelstan’s Angles at East Lothian. Oengus was facing defeat until he saw an X-shaped cloud in the sky symbolizing Divine intervention. He promised to name a day in St. Andrew's honour if his army carried the day. It did. His pledge was made official in 1320 when Scotland announced its independence from England with the Declaration of Arbroath.
St. Andrew, it appears still represents the force to be reckoned with so look out Santa!
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