Andrew the First-Called

Mentioned in the lists of the apostles in the Gospel of Matthew ^[8] , Mark ^[3] , Luke ^[9] , as well as in the Acts of the Apostles ^[10] .

Andrew was the brother of the Apostle Peter , a fisherman , like Peter, was born in Bethsaida , a city on the northern shore of Lake Galilee .

Andrew was the first ^{[~ 1]} of the called disciples of Christ, in connection with which this apostle is often called the First-Called.

According to the gospel of Matthew ^[11] and Mark ^{[12], the} calling of Andrew and Peter took place near Lake Galilee, the apostle John in the Gospel of John describes the calling of Andrew, held near the Jordan immediately after the baptism of Jesus ^[13] . According to this narrative, the apostle Andrew was at first a disciple of John the Baptist .

On the pages of the Gospel of John, Andrew appears twice more - he conducts a dialogue with Jesus about bread and fish before the miracle of saturating five thousand people ^[14] and, together with the apostle Philip, leads to Jesus the Greeks ^[15] .

The apocryphal text of Acts of Andrew is known, created, according to the generally accepted version, in the 3rd century, as well as the lost Gospel of Andrew , rejected by Gelasius I (492–496) in Decretum Gelasianum ^{[16] [17]} .

In the life of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, it is mentioned that Andrew and his brother Simon (future St. Peter ) were Galilean fishermen born and raised in Bethsaida (a city on the shores of Lake Genisaret ); their father’s name was Jonah ^[18] . Having grown up, the brothers moved to Capernaum , where they acquired their own home and continued to engage in fishing.

Even in his youth, Andrew decided to devote himself to serving God. Preserving chastity , he refused to marry . Hearing that John the Baptist on the Jordan River was preaching about the coming of the Messiah and calling for repentance, Andrew left everything and went to him. Soon the young man became the closest disciple of John the Baptist.

The evangelists Matthew and John describe the meeting of Andrew with Jesus in different ways. The Gospel of John says that Andrew first saw the Savior when the holy Forerunner pointed to Jesus Christ walking and said: “Behold the Lamb of God .” Hearing this, Andrei, along with another disciple of the Forerunner, whose name the evangelist does not lead, left the Baptist and followed Christ. Then Andrew found his brother Simon Peter and also brought him to Jesus ^{[~ 2]} . Matthew, however, tells how the Savior met Andrew and his brother Simon Peter on the shore of Lake Genisaret, where the brothers caught fish, throwing nets into the water. Jesus addressed them with the words: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And they followed Him, leaving their nets.

Scripture brings us very scarce information about the Apostle Andrew, but his biography speaks for itself. In the Gospel of John it is said that during the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, Andrei pointed to a boy who had "five barley loaves and two fish" ^[14] . He showed the Savior to the Gentiles who came to Jerusalem to worship the true God ^[15] . According to the testimony of the Evangelist Mark, St. Andrew was one of the four disciples of Jesus, with whom He on the Mount of Olives revealed the fate of the world ^[19] .

St. Andrew is called the First-Called, because he was called the first of the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. Until the last day of the Savior's earthly journey, His First-Called Apostle followed Him. After the death of the Lord on the cross, Saint Andrew witnessed the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. On the day of Pentecost (that is, fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus) in Jerusalem there was a miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire on the apostles. Thus, inspired by the Spirit of God, the apostles received the gift to heal, prophesy, and the ability to speak different languages ​​about the great works of the Lord.

The twelve disciples of Jesus divided the countries where they were to carry the gospel sermon , turning the Gentiles to Christ. The vast lands of Bithynia and Propontis with the cities of Chalkidon and Byzantium , also the lands of Thrace and Macedonia , extending to the Black Sea and the Danube , besides the lands of Scythia and Thessaly , Hellas and Achaia , the cities of Amins , Trapezund , Irakli and Arama , fell by lot to St. Andrew. St. Andrew went through these cities and countries, carrying the Gospel sermon to the Gentiles. The first field of his apostolic ministry was the coast of the Black Sea, which at that time was called the "Euxinous Pontus" ("Hospitable Sea").

Almost everywhere, where the apostle found himself, the authorities met him with severe persecution, he suffered many sorrows and sufferings. But, reinforced by the power of his faith, St. Andrew “with delight” endured all the calamities in the name of Christ. Especially much torment had to be met by the First-Called Apostle in the city of Sinope , where the pagans subjected him to severe torture . But, as the legend says, “by the grace of his Master and Savior, St. Andrew again turned out to be healthy and whole from wounds” ^[20] .

Continuing his preaching journey, the apostle passed through the cities of Neocesaria and Samosata , through the country of Alana , through the lands of Abaskov and Zig . According to legend, the pagan pagans at first did not accept the gospel sermon of St. Andrew and even wanted to kill the apostle, but, marveling at his meekness and asceticism, they abandoned their intention. Having passed through the Bosporus kingdom , he took a sea voyage to the Thracian city of Byzantium ^{[~ 3]} . The apostle was the first to preach the teachings of the Savior in the future center of Eastern Christianity, where St. Andrew founded the Church. He ordained the Byzantine Bishop Stachius , one of the 70 apostles of Christ, whom Paul refers to in Romans ^[21] . The saint also appointed elders of the church, “so that they would teach the people and perform the sacraments ” ^[20] .

The life of the apostle tells of several cases of the resurrection of the dead ^{[22] [23]} :

• In the city of Amaseev, the apostle Andrew raised a boy named Egypt, who died of a fever, at the request of the father of the boy Demetrius.
• In Nicomedia, during the funeral procession, the apostle resurrected a boy who died from the fact that his body was torn by dogs.
• In Thessaloniki, at the request of one of the inhabitants of the city, the apostle publicly resurrected a boy who died from strangulation.
• Enraged by the apostle Andrew’s sermons, the proconsul Virin sent soldiers to bring the apostle to him by force. One of the soldiers fell dead as soon as he drew his sword, after which the apostle prayer raised him up. Proconsul Virin ordered the apostle to be tortured in the stadium, releasing a boar, a bull and a leopard in turn. But the animals did not touch the apostle, while the leopard attacked the son of the proconsul and strangled him. After a long prayer, the apostle resurrected the son of Virin.
• Also in Thessaloniki, the apostle resurrected a little boy who died from a snake bite.
• In the city of Patras, the apostle Andrew preached in the house of the proconsul of Lisbia. Former concubine Proconsul Trofim followed the teachings of the apostle and left her husband. Trofima's husband came to the wife of the proconsul Caliste and slandered his wife, accusing her of renewing her relationship with the proconsul. By order of Calista, Trofim was forcibly placed in a house of tolerance for abuse, but Trofima prayed so much that all the men who tried to touch her died, after which she resurrected one of them. The proconsul's wife went to the bathhouse with her lover, where they both died. At the request of the nurse Kalista, the apostle Andrew raised the dead, after which Lisbius and his wife believed in Christ.
• In the city of Patras, during the sermon of the Apostle Andrew, a drowned man was thrown ashore by the wave, whom the apostle resurrected with his prayer. It was Filopatra, the son of Sostratus, a resident of Macedonia , who sailed on a ship to Patras in order to familiarize himself with the new teaching, but he was carried away by a wave from the ship during a storm. The philopatre asked the apostle to resurrect his friends and servants, who were also carried off the ship to sea. When the apostle Andrew prayed, another 39 people were carried ashore, and the crowd surrounding the apostle turned to him with a request for their resurrection. The apostle asked to put the bodies in one place and with his prayer raised all the dead.
• In the city of Sinop, the apostle Andrew, at the request of a woman, resurrected her husband, who was found dead in a pit.
• In the city of Atskuri (present-day Georgia ), the deceased rose after the apostle’s prayer, and this miracle prompted the inhabitants of the city to receive Holy Baptism ^[24] .

Eusebius of Caesarea in the first half of the 4th century, referring to the composition of Origen that did not reach us, speaks of Andrew’s ministry in Scythia ^[25] . Origen, according to Eusebius, claimed that 12 apostles cast lots to determine the direction of their missionary activity. So Peter preached in Rome, Matthew in Palestine, Mark in Egypt, John in Asia Minor, Thomas in Parthia, and Andrew in Thrace and Scythia.

However, the opinions of church historians disagree on this evidence. So, A. Harnack left open the question of how much the quote given by Eusebius represents a literal excerpt from Origen ^[26] . Some scholars claimed that the news of the Apostle Andrew belongs to Eusebius himself and to the church tradition of his day, and A. V. Kartashev was inclined to traditional opinion ^[27] .

Subsequent church writers - Dosipheus of Tire , Epiphanius of Cyprus (IV century), Eucherios of Lyons (V century), Nikita Paflagon (IX-X) and others - supplement this tradition in their own way. Thus, the apostle’s route ran “through all of Bithynia, all of Thrace and the Scythians ... then he reached the great city of Sevast ... where is the Aspar fortress and the Fasis river ... which is inhabited by internal Ethiopians” (that is, according to these authors, the apostle reached approximately present Abkhazia ( Fasis usually refers to Rioni )) ^{[~ 4]} . Between Iveria and Scythia, Andrei visited, allegedly, the Bosporus , Theodosius and Chersonese .

However, in most versions of the legend about the casting of lots Scythia is not mentioned at all ^[29] . Also, none of the oldest records of the legend mention the travels of the apostles along the Northern Black Sea coast or along the Dnieper ^[29] . And St. Gregory the Theologian (4th century) wrote that Andrei had lots in India ^[29] . N. M. Karamzin , citing this story in the History of the Russian State, remarked: “ However, knowledgeable people doubt the truth of this Andreev’s journey .”

Church historian, professor A. V. Kartashev notes:

At the same time (VIII-IX centuries), the monk Epiphanius composed a story about the Apostle Andrew. This story refers to the "iron rod with the image of the life-giving cross, on which the apostle always relied . " Near Nicaea in Bithynia, "Blessed Ap. "Andrei, overthrowing the vile statue of Artemis , put there the life-giving image of the saving Cross . " Further east, in Paphlagonia, "he chose a place of prayer convenient for the construction of the altar, and consecrated it, erecting the sign of the life-giving cross . " From this story, notes A. V. Kartashev, a cross and a rod appearing in two versions of the Russian legend ^[27] .

The legend about the lot of the apostles has been known in Russia since the advent of Christianity here. In 1051, the Kiev Metropolitan Hilarion writes about him in the “Word of the Law and Grace” . Also, the legend was included in the "Svjatoslav Collection of 1076." But in them the tradition of the lot of the apostles is not associated with the baptism of Russia. So, Metropolitan Hilarion wrote: “But the Roman country of Peter and Paul praises with a laudatory voice ... Asia and Ephesus, and Patmos - John the Theologian. India - Thomas, Egypt - Mark ... Let us also praise ... the great and marvelous creator, our teacher and mentor, the great prince of the land of our Vladimir ... ” ^[30] . Moreover, the first list of the “Tale of Bygone Years” - the so-called Ancient Codex of 1039, as well as the Initial Codex of 1095 and the “ Reading about Boris and Gleb ” by Nestor the Chronicler directly declare that the apostles “did not go to Russia” and that they are in our lands "not be" ^[29] .

But already in 1116, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavich, Vladimir Monomakh , ordered the abbot of the Vydubychi Monastery Sylvester to include in the " Tale of Bygone Years " the Russian version of the legend about the Apostolic mission of St. Andrew the First-Called. So from that time, stories about the visit of the Russian land by the apostle will certainly be included in all subsequent chronicle lists ^[31] .

So there was a story about the journey of the Apostle Andrew from the Crimea to Rome through Ladoga . According to this version about the ministry of the apostle in the Black Sea region: “And the Dnieper flows into the Ponete Sea by the mouth; hedgehog says Ruskoye the sea, Saint Ondrei, brother of Petrov taught it from him ” (Stlb. 7), - he further tells that upon arrival in Korsun, Andrei learned that the mouth of the Dnieper was nearby, and, deciding to go to Rome , he climbed up The Dnieper. Staying overnight in the hills on which Kiev was subsequently built, the apostle, according to the chronicler, said to his former disciples:

According to legend, the apostle climbed the mountains, blessed them and raised a cross ^{[~ 5]} . From Kiev, the apostle arrived in Novgorod , where he was surprised that the locals love, washing in the baths, to beat themselves with “young rods”, to sprinkle with kvass and iced water. The story to the disciples of Jesus in Rome was limited to baths only, and the Roman listeners “hear, I wonder” ^[32] .

In the oldest lists and versions of this legend there is no mention of the success of the preaching of St. Andrew the First-Called ^[33] . In this regard, Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy EE Golubinsky ironic: did the apostle come to our lands only to see the Russian customs of using bathhouses ^[34] .

Professor A. V. Kartashev notes:

So this legend began to acquire an ever-increasing number of details ^[34] .

Various medieval sources report the further journey of St. Andrew to Novgorod , where he erected a cross near the present village of Gruzino on the banks of the Volkhov , to Lake Ladoga and further to the island of Valaam , where he allegedly erected a stone cross and destroyed the temples of the gods Veles and Perun , turning Christianity of pagan priests ^[36] .

It is worth noting that the fact of the stay of the Apostle Andrew in the territory of the future Russia was called into question even by some Orthodox church historians. Among them: Metropolitan Plato (Levshin) , Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky) , Academician, MDA professor E. E. Golubinsky ^[34] , A. V. Kartashev and others. The famous Elder of the Pskov Eleazarov Monastery Filofei (c. 1465-1542) wrote about Russian land:

In one collection of the 16th century we read:

The Monk Joseph of Volokolamsk (1440-1515) in his "Enlightener" even raised the question: why ap. Andrew did not preach Christianity in the Russian land? and answered like this:

However, another opinion is widely spread in the church environment. Some church historians tend to consider the tradition of the Apostle Andrew true ^[38] . So, the church historian, Metropolitan Makarios (Bulgakov) (1816-1882) remarks on this subject:

In the introductory article to the “History of the Russian Church” by Metropolitan Makarios S. A. Belyaev ^{[ who? ]} in 1994 claims that "in the II millennium - the beginning of the I millennium BC, Eastern Europe was already quite densely populated by peoples ... Almost all researchers distinguish Slavic, or rather Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe ... That at least in the XV — XII centuries. before R. Kh., the Praslavlians already live in the territory of interest to us, ”and believes that with the Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea Coast“ all of Eastern Europe from the Carpathians in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east and from the northern coast of the Black Sea to modern Perm has become an integral part the ancient world " ^[40] .

Martyrdom for Faith

The oblique cross on which the apostle Andrew suffered a martyrdom is called the St. Andrew's Cross . This crucifix is ​​considered to have been completed around the 67th year ^[6] . Not far from the place of the crucifixion of the holy apostle in Patras, the magnificent cathedral of St. Andrew the First- called, the largest in Greece, was erected. At the alleged site of the crucifixion of St. Andrew is a spring located next to the old church of St. Andrew ^[41] .

According to Professor A. V. Kartashev , with the development of the legend of Andrew, the Byzantine church solved two problems:

• To secure its independence from the claims of Rome and to prove its equivalence to Rome (Andrew was the elder brother of the Apostle Peter ).
• Ensure domination over all possible churches of the East.

Under Emperor Constantius II, the relics of the Holy Apostle Andrew were solemnly transferred from Patras to Constantinople and laid March 3, 357 in the Church of the Holy Apostles next to the relics of the Holy Evangelist Luke and the disciple of the Apostle Paul - Timothy , an apostle from seventy .

Apostle Andrew is revered by the founder and patron saint of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople .

По легенде, в VIII веке мощи апостола Андрея были перевезены в Шотландию монахом Регулусом и помещены в кафедральный собор Сент-Эндрюса , города, который получил своё имя в честь апостола и стал церковной столицей Шотландского королевства. По другой версии, они (возможно, частично) были перевезены крестоносцами в 1208 году в Италию, в Амальфи .

После падения в 1453 году Константинополя Фома Палеолог (младший брата Константина XI Палеолога ) бежал вместе с женой и детьми на Корфу , взяв с собой забальзамированную голову святого апостола Андрея. В конце 1460 года он уехал, взяв её с собой, в Италию и 7 марта 1461 года был с почестями принят в Риме. Через неделю папа, которому Фома преподнёс голову апостола Андрея, наградил его орденом Золотой розы.

В Трирском соборе хранятся сандалия и гвоздь апостола Андрея.

Часть мощей Святого Андрея хранятся в кафедральном соборе в городе Мантуе .

В Православной церкви память апостола 30 ноября (13 декабря) по юлианскому календарю и в Собор двенадцати апостолов 30 июня (13 июля) ; в Католической церкви и Православных церквах, придерживающихся григорианского календаря : 30 июня и 30 ноября .

На Руси особый культ апостола Андрея Первозванного получил распространение с 1080-х годов. Первая церковь в честь апостола Андрея была построена в Киеве в 1086 году трудами великого князя Всеволода Ярославича , сына Ярослава Мудрого .

Картины с изображением святого Андрея создавались многими великими живописцами, в том числе Мурильо , Эль Греко , Сурбараном .

В 1698 году российским царём Петром I учреждена первая (и затем остававшаяся высшей) награда России — Орден Святого Андрея Первозванного , позднее он учредил флаг русского флота — Андреевский , поместив на морской флаг изображение креста св. Андрея (две голубые полосы, пересекающихся по диагонали, на белом фоне) ^[43] . В 1998 году орден был возрождён в России.

26 декабря 1906 года в английском Бирмингеме открыт футбольный стадион « Сент-Эндрюс », названный в честь святого Андрея.

Апостол Андрей — святой покровитель Украины , России , Шотландии , Румынии , Греции , Сицилии , Амальфи ; а также моряков и рыбаков.

В июле 2013 года в Харькове открыт памятник Андрею Первозванному ^[44] .

Корабль-церковь «Андрей Первозванный»

В преддверии 70-летия со дня образования Новосибирской области с 15 по 31 августа 2008 года работал благотворительный духовный медико-просветительский православный корабль-церковь «Андрей Первозванный». Рейд корабля-церкви был организован Новосибирской епархией Русской Православной церкви и областной администрацией. Главная цель миссии — оказание духовно-социальной и материальной помощи жителям отдалённых сёл. В ходе своей поездки представители социальной защиты, медицинские работники, священнослужители посетили более 25 отдалённых сёл Болотнинского, Колыванского, Мошковского и Новосибирского районов ^[45] .

« Золотая легенда » также сообщает об одном из чудес апостола, о котором нет упоминания в « Четьи-Минеях », но которым можно объяснить почитание св. Андрея как покровителя мореходов: однажды он воскресил сорок мужей, направлявшихся к нему, чтобы получить учение о вере, но утонувших из-за шторма, вызванного дьяволом. Поэтому в гимне Апостолу поётся: «Quaternos iuvenes submersos maris fluctibus vitae reddidit usibus». В другом случае, записанном в «Золотой легенде», апостолу удалось молитвой успокоить бушующее море.

Ещё одним любопытным эпизодом легенды является христианский ответ святого апостола на придуманный дьяволом основной вопрос о том, что выше — земное или небесное: «На имперских небесах, где находится Иисус Христос , Который является формой нашей плоти, Он превыше всех небес!»

• Памятник Андрею Первозванному (Москва)
• Памятник Андрею Первозванному в г. Батайске. Открыт 27 сентября 2003 г. ^[46] Скульптор С. Исаков.
• Памятник Андрею Первозванному (Донецк. Украина).
• Памятник Андрею Первозванному (Севастополь).
• Памятник Андрею Первозванному (Феодосия).

Comments

Sources

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• St. Andrew's Cross
• St. Andrew's flag
• Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
• St. Andrew's Church
• St. Andrew's Cathedral
• Andrew the First-Called Foundation
• St. Andrew's night