Very little is known about the life of St. Andrew. He and his brother, Simon Peter (St. Peter), were fishermen from Galilee. They became followers and then apostles of Jesus Christ and helped to spread the word of Christianity. St. Andrew traveled throughout Asia Minor and Greece doing his work, where it is said he met his end at the hand of the Romans, who crucified him at Patras.

He was buried in Patras, Greece, and there his body remained for 300 years. During this time, his remains were exhumed and taken to Constantinople. Some 400 years later, a monk, whose responsibility was to guard the bones of the Saint, had a vision or dream. In this vision, he was told to remove the bones and take them to the ends of the earth to protect them. This monk was St. Rule (or Regulus) who then set sail with some of the bones of the dead St. Andrew for Scotland. These included a kneecap, an arm bone, a tooth and some fingers.

In the meantime, Dalriada and Caledonia (the countries that later became Scotland) had already received Christianity, through St. Columba and his followers who had established a religious seat in Iona circa 565 AD.

St. Rule arrived in Caledonia around the early 8th Century. It is said that he was shipwrecked in the southern kingdom of Caledonia near where the town of St. Andrew sits today. As a man of the cloth, he was welcomed by the then King of the southern kingdom, Onegus (Angus) son of Fergus (729-759) and given lands in the area where he landed for his church and followers. In the Celtic world the place we now call St. Andrews was known as Cennrighmonaid, meaning the headland of the king's mount. St. Andrew's remains became the centerpiece of the Church at Cennrighmonaid and were placed in St. Rule's Tower.

There is some speculation that this and the conversion of the King (Onegus or Angus) to the Catholic religion may have started a war. Northern Caledonia and Dalriada were followers of St. Columba and the monastery at Iona, while Southern Caledonia was now Catholic of St. Rude (Regulus). Angus attacked and won a victory over his enemies, defeating at least Dalriada and pacifying northern Caledonia. To prove his point, he also invaded Ireland and won two battles there before returning home.

The church of St. Andrew grew in power and by the middle of the 9th Century (c. 849 AD) became the new seat of the Church in Alba (Dalriada and Caledonia together). This was done largely because of the Viking threat to Iona.

In 1034 AD, Alba became Scotland and the flag of the new country became the St. Andrews Cross. The power of the Church continued to grow and it was enlarged on at least three occasions. Many people came from far and wide to view the remains of St. Andrew. Sometime during the Reformation, the Church or Priory of St. Andrew was destroyed and the relics were lost.

The larger part of St. Andrew's remains were stolen from Constantinople in 1210 AD and now reside in Amalfi, southern Italy. In 1879, the Archbishop of Amalfi sent a small piece of St. Andrew's shoulder blade to Scotland and in 1969 Pope Paul VI gave more pieces to the country. The remains of St. Andrew in Scotland are now displayed at the reliquary in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Edinburgh.

by BW, March 2000

Links:

Saint Andrew

A brief history of St. Andrews

Priory of St. Andrews

Scotland's Saint Andrew

St. Andrews Museum