[7] The name "Andrew" (meaning manly, brave, from Ancient Greek: ἀνδρεία, romanized: andreía, lit.

"The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored.

These narratives record that Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, observed Simon and Andrew fishing, and called them to discipleship.

In this narrative, Jesus initially used a boat, solely described as being Simon's, as a platform for preaching to the multitudes on the shore and then as a means to achieving a huge trawl of fish on a night which had hitherto proved fruitless.

[8] Subsequently, in the gospels, Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus.

According to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, Andrew visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea before making his way to Chersonesus in Crimea.

[24] According to the legend, attributed to Nestor the Chronicler, Andrew reached the future capital of Kievan Rus' and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city with many churches.

[b] The iconography of the martyrdom of Andrew — showing him bound to an X-shaped cross — does not appear to have been standardized until the later Middle Ages.

Shortly thereafter, most of the relics were transferred from Patras to Constantinople by order of the Roman emperor Constantius II around 357 and deposited in the Church of the Holy Apostles.

A cathedral was built, dedicated to Saint Andrew, as is the town itself, to house a tomb in its crypt where it is maintained that most of the relics of the apostle, including an occipital bone, remain.

In 1461, when the Ottomans crossed the Strait of Corinth, Palaiologos fled Patras for exile in Italy, bringing with him what was purported to be the skull of Saint Andrew.

He gave the head to Pope Pius II, who had it enshrined in one of the four central piers of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and then in Pienza, Italy.

[3] In September 1964, Pope Paul VI, as a gesture of goodwill toward the Greek Orthodox Church, ordered that the one relic of Saint Andrew held in Vatican City be returned to Patras.

Cardinal Augustin Bea, head of the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, led a delegation that presented the skull to Bishop Constantine of Patras on 24 September 1964.

The cross of the apostle was presented to the Bishop of Patras Nicodemus by a Catholic delegation led by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray.

This tradition derives from Byzantine sources, particularly Niketas David Paphlagon (died c. 890) who asserts that "Andrew preached to the Iberians, Sauromatians, Taurians, and Scythians and to every region and city, on the Black Sea, both north and south.

Upon coming ashore, Andrew struck the rocks with his staff at which point a spring of healing waters gushed forth.

At one time, many fishermen lived in the village of Luqa, and this may be the main reason for choosing Andrew as patron saint.

The official stance of the Romanian Orthodox Church is that Andrew preached the Gospel in the province of Dobruja (Scythia Minor) to the Dacians who were similar to Thracians, whom he is said to have converted to Christianity.

According to Hippolyte of Antioch, (died c. 250) in his On Apostles, Origen in the third book of his Commentaries on the Genesis (254 AD), Eusebius in his Church History (340 AD), and other sources, such as Usaard's Martyrdom written between 845 and 865, and Jacobus de Voragine's Golden Legend (c. 1260), Andrew preached in Scythia, a possible reference to Scythia Minor, corresponding to the modern-day regions of Northern Dobruja (part of Romania) and Southern Dobruja (part of Bulgaria).

They take the idea to be a part of the ideology of Dacianism, which they claim to purport that the Eastern Orthodox Church has been a companion and defender of the Romanian people for its entire history, aspect supposedly used for propaganda purposes during the communist era.

Scholar Mircea Eliade argues in favor of structural links between Zamolxism and Christianity,[58] thus suggesting a higher likelihood of early conversion.

[d] One of the foundational narratives associated with the history of Orthodoxy in Russia is found in the 12th-century Primary Chronicle, which says that the Apostle Andrew visited Scythia and Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea before making his way to Chersonesus in Crimea.

[24][60] According to this legend, Andrew reached the future location of the capital of Kievan Rus' and foretold the foundation of a great Christian city in Kiev (modern Kyiv) with many churches.

[24] Despite the lack of historical evidence supporting this narrative, modern church historians in Russia have often incorporated this tale into their studies.

The legend states that he was heavily outnumbered and hence whilst engaged in prayer on the eve of battle, Óengus vowed that if granted victory he would appoint Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland.

Óengus and his combined force, emboldened by this apparent divine intervention, took to the field and despite being inferior in numbers were victorious.

The white saltire set against a celestial blue background is said to have been adopted as the design of the flag of Scotland on the basis of this legend.

A local superstition uses the cross of Saint Andrew as a hex sign on the fireplaces in northern England and Scotland to prevent witches from flying down the chimney and entering the house to do mischief.

Andrew is the patron saint of several countries and cities, including Barbados, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Ukraine, Sarzana,[2] Pienza[3] and Amalfi in Italy, Penrith in England,[65] Esgueira in Portugal, Luqa in Malta, Parañaque in the Philippines and Patras in Greece.