By Yuri Ruban, PhD in History, PhD in Theology
We consider Andrew, the brother of the Apostle Peter, to be the Apostle of Rus/Russia (and of the northern lands in general), a native of Bethsaida, a town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. His memory is November 30/December 13 and June 30/July 13 - the feast of the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles.
The Greek name of the apostle, Ἀνδρέας or Andréas (Hebrew, unknown origin), is translated as "courageous", "valiant". He was originally a fisherman, and then became a disciple of John the Baptist. In the list of the Twelve Apostles, Andrew is listed among the four closest disciples to Christ; moreover, his calling as one of the first (Matt. 4:18) or even the first (before his brother - John 1:35-42), ensured him the name "First-Called" (in Greek, Protokletos). The last mentions of Andrew the First-Called in the New Testament is in the story of the arrival of the Greeks in Jerusalem, who wanted to see Christ (John 12:20-34), and at the beginning of the Book of Acts of the Apostles. According to tradition (the apocryphal "Acts of Andrew" and others), he received the northern lands of the Roman Empire ("Scythia") as his apostolic inheritance and preached Christianity to the Balkan and Black Sea peoples. Returning to Greece, the Apostle Andrew was captured and crucified in Patras by order of the proconsul Aegeus. It is noted that the bars of his cross were not perpendicular to each other, but were knocked down diagonally, like the Latin letter X. This cross was therefore called the Saint Andrew's Cross.
The honorable head and parts of the cross of the Apostle Andrew are kept in the city of Patras (Greece), in the cathedral named after him. Other parts of the relics are in the Italian city of Amalfi, where they were transferred from Constantinople, and in the monasteries of Athos. The right hand of the Apostle Andrew has been in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin since 1644. At present, it is kept in the Theophany Cathedral in Moscow.
Apostle of Byzantium and Rus'
The formation of the legend of Andrew the First-Called took place in the mainstream of big politics, which was inevitable in the conditions of the "State Church" (this was especially characteristic of Byzantium). The prestige of the most ancient centers of Christianity was associated with their rank of "Apostolic Churches", i.e. Churches founded by the Apostles themselves (Rome - the chair of the Apostle Peter, Alexandria - the chair of the Apostle Mark, etc.). When the port town of Byzantium, which did not have such a history, and by the will of Emperor Constantine the Great became in 330 the New (Second) Rome (Constantinople), the capital of the Roman Empire and the center of Eastern Christianity (later - Orthodoxy), arguing for primacy with the "Catholic" Old (First) Rome, then to establish its authority it needed a similar history. (In parentheses, we note that the Patriarchs of Constantinople were considered “upstarts” who owed their rise only to imperial policy, not only in Rome, but also in the East, especially in Alexandria of Egypt, which for a long time was the second most honorable see – after Rome – in the entire Christian world.) Therefore, a legend arose about the stay of Andrew the First-Called in Byzantium and his consecration of the first bishop of this city, Stachys, “the Apostle of the Seventy.”
When Rus' (which later became the main Orthodox power) entered the zone of Byzantine Orthodoxy, it became necessary to identify the "Scythians" to whom Andrew the First-Called preached with the Slavs. Therefore, the Kiev "Legend of Andrew" was included in the "Tale of Bygone Years" (early 12th century), which made him pass through the territory of the future Rus', bless the deserted Dnieper bank by erecting a cross on it, and predict the emergence of Kiev.
“… And he (the Apostle Andrew) said to his disciples who were with him: 'Do you see these mountains? On these mountains the grace of God will shine, there will be a great city, and God will raise up many churches.' And he went up these mountains, blessed them, erected a cross, and prayed to God.” Then he even visited the Novgorod lands and marveled at the Russian custom of pouring kvass over themselves in a bathhouse and whipping themselves half to death with brooms, which he told about when he arrived in Rome. “I saw something amazing in the Slavic land on my way here. I saw wooden baths, and they would heat them up until they were red-hot, and they would undress, and they would be naked, and they would pour tannery kvass over themselves, and they would lift young rods onto themselves, and beat themselves, and they would finish themselves off so badly that they would barely crawl out, barely alive, and they would pour cold water over themselves, and only then would they come to life. And they do this every day, not being tormented by anyone, but tormenting themselves, and that is performing ablution for themselves, and not torment. Those, hearing this, were amazed" (Monuments of Literature of Ancient Rus. XI – beginning of XII century. Moscow, 1978, p. 27, – trans. D.S. Likhachev). This last, anecdotal, episode of the legendary journey is clearly mockingly anti-Novgorod in nature: Kiev and Veliky Novgorod were from the very beginning two rival centers of Russian statehood and culture.
The formation of the legend of Andrew the First-Called took place in the mainstream of big politics, which was inevitable in the conditions of the "State Church" (this was especially characteristic of Byzantium). The prestige of the most ancient centers of Christianity was associated with their rank of "Apostolic Churches", i.e. Churches founded by the Apostles themselves (Rome - the chair of the Apostle Peter, Alexandria - the chair of the Apostle Mark, etc.). When the port town of Byzantium, which did not have such a history, and by the will of Emperor Constantine the Great became in 330 the New (Second) Rome (Constantinople), the capital of the Roman Empire and the center of Eastern Christianity (later - Orthodoxy), arguing for primacy with the "Catholic" Old (First) Rome, then to establish its authority it needed a similar history. (In parentheses, we note that the Patriarchs of Constantinople were considered “upstarts” who owed their rise only to imperial policy, not only in Rome, but also in the East, especially in Alexandria of Egypt, which for a long time was the second most honorable see – after Rome – in the entire Christian world.) Therefore, a legend arose about the stay of Andrew the First-Called in Byzantium and his consecration of the first bishop of this city, Stachys, “the Apostle of the Seventy.”
When Rus' (which later became the main Orthodox power) entered the zone of Byzantine Orthodoxy, it became necessary to identify the "Scythians" to whom Andrew the First-Called preached with the Slavs. Therefore, the Kiev "Legend of Andrew" was included in the "Tale of Bygone Years" (early 12th century), which made him pass through the territory of the future Rus', bless the deserted Dnieper bank by erecting a cross on it, and predict the emergence of Kiev.
“… And he (the Apostle Andrew) said to his disciples who were with him: 'Do you see these mountains? On these mountains the grace of God will shine, there will be a great city, and God will raise up many churches.' And he went up these mountains, blessed them, erected a cross, and prayed to God.” Then he even visited the Novgorod lands and marveled at the Russian custom of pouring kvass over themselves in a bathhouse and whipping themselves half to death with brooms, which he told about when he arrived in Rome. “I saw something amazing in the Slavic land on my way here. I saw wooden baths, and they would heat them up until they were red-hot, and they would undress, and they would be naked, and they would pour tannery kvass over themselves, and they would lift young rods onto themselves, and beat themselves, and they would finish themselves off so badly that they would barely crawl out, barely alive, and they would pour cold water over themselves, and only then would they come to life. And they do this every day, not being tormented by anyone, but tormenting themselves, and that is performing ablution for themselves, and not torment. Those, hearing this, were amazed" (Monuments of Literature of Ancient Rus. XI – beginning of XII century. Moscow, 1978, p. 27, – trans. D.S. Likhachev). This last, anecdotal, episode of the legendary journey is clearly mockingly anti-Novgorod in nature: Kiev and Veliky Novgorod were from the very beginning two rival centers of Russian statehood and culture.
Kievan Rus saw Andrew the First-Called as the patron of statehood. In 1030, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, the youngest son of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, was baptized with the name Andrew; in 1086, he founded the Andrew's (Yanchin) Monastery in Kiev. In the 13th century, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built on the site of the Apostle Andrew's sermon and the raising of the cross by him in Kiev, and in 1744, a stone church in the name of the Apostle Andrew was erected on this site according to the design of the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
At the end of the 11th century, the first church in the name of the Apostle Andrew appeared in Novgorod. After some time, an addition to the story of the visit of the Apostle Andrew to the future Russian lands, read in the "Tale of Bygone Years", took place here. According to local Novgorod legends, included in the "Book of Degrees", compiled on the initiative of Metropolitan Macarius by the confessor of Ivan IV the Terrible, Andrew (the future Metropolitan Afanasy), between 1560 and 1563, the Apostle Andrew, having come to the "land of the Word", preached the word of God, and then "erected" and left his staff in "the place called Georgia". From here, along the Volkhov River, Lake Ladoga and the Neva, he set off to the "Varangians", then to Rome and Constantinople (though New Rome, or Constantinople, appeared almost three centuries after the Apostle Andrew!) (Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 21. Part 1, p. 73). The staff of the Apostle Andrew from the village of Gruzino is described in more detail in the life of the Venerable Michael of Klopsk, which was compiled in Novgorod in 1537 by the boyar's son V. M. Tuchkov on behalf of Saint Macarius, who was Archbishop of Novgorod in 1526-1542. It was probably then that the "Encomium to Andrew the First-Called" was written "and about the monastery, which he called Gruzino."
Later, the village of Gruzino was given by Emperor Paul I to Count Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev, who turned it into a model estate († 1834; was buried there). Here, on the beautiful high bank of the Volkhov River, he built a large temple in honor of Andrew the First-Called (only the remains of the foundation have survived). Arakcheyev believed that he did this on the site of the "erecting" of the staff by the Apostle Andrew and that this is supposedly the origin of the name "Gruzino". Recently, local residents, proud of the glorious history of their "village", erected a memorial sign depicting Saint Andrew's Cross on the site of the ruins. (Currently, the village of Gruzino, 10 km from the Chudovo station of the Moscow railway; Novgorod region.)
In the second half of the 17th century, the "Brief Tale of the Establishment of the Most Honorable Monastery of the Divine Transfiguration of the Lord God Our Savior Jesus Christ on Valaam" was compiled, which tells of Andrew the First-Called's visit to the Valaam Archipelago. This means that the initial Kiev tale of the Apostle Andrew's journey along the Dnieper and Volkhov turned into a tradition of apostolic preaching throughout the Russian land. Already under Ivan the Terrible, the Apostle began to be perceived as the "Baptizer of Rus'", and the theme of the "apostolic succession" of the Russian Church, which became the "Apostolic See", was persistently heard in those cases when it was necessary to protect Russia's independence in church matters (controversy with the Roman Catholic Church, etc.). Soon Andrew the First-Called became the heavenly patron of our state and even the patron of the navy. Since then, the Saint Andrew's Cross has adorned our ship flags (Saint Andrew's Flag).
A completely understandable development of this legend is taking place, and modern Valaam monks “of course” show the “stone of the Apostle Andrew” to the delighted simple-minded pilgrims. Probably, the “logic” of the legend will soon force the Apostle Andrew to sail to Solovki (how is this glorious monastery worse than Valaam?!), and then make him a polar explorer. (In parentheses, we note that this is generally the “logic” of popular religiosity developing outside the scientific and historical context. Educated Christians should treat this with wise understanding and not argue with its simple-minded bearers.)
Besides Russia, Scotland also considers the Apostle Andrew to be its apostle and patron; the flag of Scotland also features the Saint Andrew's Cross.
The night preceding the feast day of commemoration of the Apostle Andrew is called “Andrew’s Night,” during which, according to popular belief, images of their betrothed appear to young men and women.
Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called
The Order established by Tsar Peter I in 1698 was named after Saint Andrew the First-Called. The Saint Andrew's Order was the first and highest order of the Russian Empire (until 1917). The first award ceremony took place on March 10, 1699, when Peter bestowed the insignia of the Order on Kriegsmeister General (later Field Marshal) F. A. Golovin. The order was awarded to the highest military and civil officials, not lower than lieutenant general or privy councillor. Emperor Paul I began to award secular orders to the Russian clergy, and the first clergy to be included in the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called were Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) of St. Petersburg and Novgorod (1775–1801) and Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) of Moscow (1775–1812). Over the course of the Order's history, slightly more than 1,000 badges have been awarded. The motto of the Order is "For Faith and Loyalty." The badge of the Order is a slanting Saint Andrew's Cross of blue enamel, superimposed over a black two-headed eagle topped with three crowns. On the cross is an image of the crucified Apostle Andrew and four gold Latin letters at the ends of the cross: SAPR (Sanctus Andreas Patronus Russiae - "Saint Andrew, Patron of Russia").
At the end of the 11th century, the first church in the name of the Apostle Andrew appeared in Novgorod. After some time, an addition to the story of the visit of the Apostle Andrew to the future Russian lands, read in the "Tale of Bygone Years", took place here. According to local Novgorod legends, included in the "Book of Degrees", compiled on the initiative of Metropolitan Macarius by the confessor of Ivan IV the Terrible, Andrew (the future Metropolitan Afanasy), between 1560 and 1563, the Apostle Andrew, having come to the "land of the Word", preached the word of God, and then "erected" and left his staff in "the place called Georgia". From here, along the Volkhov River, Lake Ladoga and the Neva, he set off to the "Varangians", then to Rome and Constantinople (though New Rome, or Constantinople, appeared almost three centuries after the Apostle Andrew!) (Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles. Vol. 21. Part 1, p. 73). The staff of the Apostle Andrew from the village of Gruzino is described in more detail in the life of the Venerable Michael of Klopsk, which was compiled in Novgorod in 1537 by the boyar's son V. M. Tuchkov on behalf of Saint Macarius, who was Archbishop of Novgorod in 1526-1542. It was probably then that the "Encomium to Andrew the First-Called" was written "and about the monastery, which he called Gruzino."
Later, the village of Gruzino was given by Emperor Paul I to Count Alexey Andreyevich Arakcheyev, who turned it into a model estate († 1834; was buried there). Here, on the beautiful high bank of the Volkhov River, he built a large temple in honor of Andrew the First-Called (only the remains of the foundation have survived). Arakcheyev believed that he did this on the site of the "erecting" of the staff by the Apostle Andrew and that this is supposedly the origin of the name "Gruzino". Recently, local residents, proud of the glorious history of their "village", erected a memorial sign depicting Saint Andrew's Cross on the site of the ruins. (Currently, the village of Gruzino, 10 km from the Chudovo station of the Moscow railway; Novgorod region.)
In the second half of the 17th century, the "Brief Tale of the Establishment of the Most Honorable Monastery of the Divine Transfiguration of the Lord God Our Savior Jesus Christ on Valaam" was compiled, which tells of Andrew the First-Called's visit to the Valaam Archipelago. This means that the initial Kiev tale of the Apostle Andrew's journey along the Dnieper and Volkhov turned into a tradition of apostolic preaching throughout the Russian land. Already under Ivan the Terrible, the Apostle began to be perceived as the "Baptizer of Rus'", and the theme of the "apostolic succession" of the Russian Church, which became the "Apostolic See", was persistently heard in those cases when it was necessary to protect Russia's independence in church matters (controversy with the Roman Catholic Church, etc.). Soon Andrew the First-Called became the heavenly patron of our state and even the patron of the navy. Since then, the Saint Andrew's Cross has adorned our ship flags (Saint Andrew's Flag).
A completely understandable development of this legend is taking place, and modern Valaam monks “of course” show the “stone of the Apostle Andrew” to the delighted simple-minded pilgrims. Probably, the “logic” of the legend will soon force the Apostle Andrew to sail to Solovki (how is this glorious monastery worse than Valaam?!), and then make him a polar explorer. (In parentheses, we note that this is generally the “logic” of popular religiosity developing outside the scientific and historical context. Educated Christians should treat this with wise understanding and not argue with its simple-minded bearers.)
Besides Russia, Scotland also considers the Apostle Andrew to be its apostle and patron; the flag of Scotland also features the Saint Andrew's Cross.
The night preceding the feast day of commemoration of the Apostle Andrew is called “Andrew’s Night,” during which, according to popular belief, images of their betrothed appear to young men and women.
Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called
The Order established by Tsar Peter I in 1698 was named after Saint Andrew the First-Called. The Saint Andrew's Order was the first and highest order of the Russian Empire (until 1917). The first award ceremony took place on March 10, 1699, when Peter bestowed the insignia of the Order on Kriegsmeister General (later Field Marshal) F. A. Golovin. The order was awarded to the highest military and civil officials, not lower than lieutenant general or privy councillor. Emperor Paul I began to award secular orders to the Russian clergy, and the first clergy to be included in the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called were Metropolitan Gabriel (Petrov) of St. Petersburg and Novgorod (1775–1801) and Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) of Moscow (1775–1812). Over the course of the Order's history, slightly more than 1,000 badges have been awarded. The motto of the Order is "For Faith and Loyalty." The badge of the Order is a slanting Saint Andrew's Cross of blue enamel, superimposed over a black two-headed eagle topped with three crowns. On the cross is an image of the crucified Apostle Andrew and four gold Latin letters at the ends of the cross: SAPR (Sanctus Andreas Patronus Russiae - "Saint Andrew, Patron of Russia").
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The Order owned the Saint Andrew's Cathedral in St. Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island (Bolshoy Prospekt, 21/23). In connection with this, the sign of the Order of Saint Andrew the First-Called was fixed above the entrance to the cathedral.
The first knights of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, restored in 1998, were Academician D. S. Likhachev, small arms designer M. T. Kalashnikov, President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev and His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.
The first knights of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, restored in 1998, were Academician D. S. Likhachev, small arms designer M. T. Kalashnikov, President of Kazakhstan N. Nazarbayev and His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.
The highest Order of the Russian Orthodox Church, established by the Resolution of the Holy Synod on December 28, 1988 in connection with the celebration of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus', is also named after Saint Andrew the First-Called. It is awarded only to the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches. It consists of an oval badge with a full-length image of the Apostle Andrew holding a large four-pointed cross in his hand, and an eight-pointed diamond star with the monogram of S. A. and the inscription around the circumference: "I am the light of the world."
Literature
Müller L. The Old Russian Tale of the Apostle Andrew's Journey to Kiev and Novgorod // Annals and Chronicles: Collection of Articles of 1973. Moscow, 1974, pp. 48–63; Ponyrko N. V., Panchenko A. M. Apocrypha about Andrew the First-Called // Dictionary of Scribes and Bookishness of Ancient Russia. Issue I. Moscow, 1987, pp. 49–54; Robinson A. N. The "Route" of the Apostle Andrew // Pages: Journal of the Biblical and Theological Institute of Apostle Andrew. Moscow, 1996. No. 2, pp. 57–74; Burkov V. G. The Order of Andrew the First-Called // Sofia. Novgorod, 1997. No. 4, pp. 36–37; Burkov V. G. Revival of the first Russian order // Sofia. Novgorod, 1999. No. 2, pp. 34–35; Orthodox Encyclopedia. Moscow, 2001. Vol. II, pp. 370–377, 399–409 (articles with detailed bibliographic references).
Literature
Müller L. The Old Russian Tale of the Apostle Andrew's Journey to Kiev and Novgorod // Annals and Chronicles: Collection of Articles of 1973. Moscow, 1974, pp. 48–63; Ponyrko N. V., Panchenko A. M. Apocrypha about Andrew the First-Called // Dictionary of Scribes and Bookishness of Ancient Russia. Issue I. Moscow, 1987, pp. 49–54; Robinson A. N. The "Route" of the Apostle Andrew // Pages: Journal of the Biblical and Theological Institute of Apostle Andrew. Moscow, 1996. No. 2, pp. 57–74; Burkov V. G. The Order of Andrew the First-Called // Sofia. Novgorod, 1997. No. 4, pp. 36–37; Burkov V. G. Revival of the first Russian order // Sofia. Novgorod, 1999. No. 2, pp. 34–35; Orthodox Encyclopedia. Moscow, 2001. Vol. II, pp. 370–377, 399–409 (articles with detailed bibliographic references).
