This statue of St. Andrew the Apostle is found in the Chandler parish that bears his name. (Courtesy of Mark Idzik)
This statue of St. Andrew the Apostle is found in the Chandler parish that bears his name. (Courtesy of Mark Idzik)

Nov. 30

In the synoptic Gospels, Andrew is a Galilean fisherman grouped with his brother, Peter, and with James and John in the inner circle of Apostles; in John’s Gospel, he is the disciple of John the Baptist who is the first to follow Jesus and who brings his brother to the Lord.

Many traditions about Andrew come from the apocryphal second-century Acts of Andrew, which depict him as a zealous missionary in the Black Sea region who is crucified — tied to an X-shaped cross — by the Roman governor. Some early Church historians also said he evangelized in Greece and Asia Minor.

He is the patron saint of Scotland, Russia, Greece and those who fish for a living. He is also the patron of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Chandler.