Andrew (Andras)

Andrew is named as one of Christ's disciples in the gospels and a brother of Simon Peter. According to Lives of the saint, he was martyred by crucifixion, in Patras, Greece. His importance as a principle disciple of Christ ensured that his cult was early and widespread. His relics were brought to St Andrews in Fife, perhaps during the eighth century, and he was subsequently adopted as patron saint of Scotland.

Feast Day: 30 November

The feast of Andrew is celebrated on 30 November, while his translation is 9 May.

More information

Texts

One of the earliest sources to record his history is Acta Andreae: a second- or third-century text that became part of the New Testament apocrypha. A Welsh Life of Andrew is incomplete, with the only surviving copy in Peniarth 225, a manuscript dating to the late sixteenth century.

Images

We can be certain that many images of Andrew once existed in medieval churches, as groups of the twelve apostles were depicted as standing figures, for example on rood screens and in stained glass in Britain during the late medieval period.

Sets of apostles were sometimes depicted in association with a section of the Apostles' Creed, and Andrew is depicted in this context in the tracery lights of the east window at the Church of St Bridget, Dyserth, probably dating from some time around 1500 (Mostyn Lewis, p. 35). At the Church of St Tyrnog, Llandyrnog, the relevant section associated with Andrew survives, but the figure now with the inscription may not be Andrew (Mostyn Lewis, p. 58). Two carved relief figures of Andrew, probably from the fourteenth century, can also be found at St David Cathedral, where he was a patron with David.

From the mid-nineteenth century, Andrew is included in groups of the twelve apostles and among other groups of saints in churches on reredoses, screens, and in the tracery or outer lights of large stained glass windows. Andrew is usually identified by his saltire: a diagonal cross, which was adopted as the national flag of Scotland. In some cases he is representative of Scotland, as at Brecon Cathedral, where he is depicted with Patrick, David and George in two windows of about 1921. In other cases, such as in a window of 1905 at the Church of St Mary, Monmouth, his place is taken by Margaret of Scotland.

As in the case of most saints, he is more often found in churches dedicated to him, and he is sometimes shown in combination with Peter and the figure of Christ, as in the west windows at the Church of St Andrew, Narberth, and the Church of St Peter, Lampeter. The latter window, a major work by the Irish artist Wilhelmina Geddes, is an imaginative evocation of the calling of the two disciples, and this scene is the one biblical episode in which Andrew is frequently depicted. These images are variously dependent on John's account (1: 40⁠–2), or that of Matthew (4: 18⁠–20) and Mark (1: 16-18) and are found in stained glass windows from the later nineteenth century and up to the mid-twentieth century. The scene is also among the fine wall paintings of the 1860s at the Church of the Holy Trinity, Pontargothi, and is imaginatively treated by John Elwyn in his series of wood engravings Disgyblion yr Iesu (Disciples of Jesus) for the children's magazine Tywysydd y Plant, 1944.

View images of Andrew on the Stained Glass in Wales website