We pay homage to Saint Andrew considered the patron saint of the ancient Bulgarians

published on 11/30/24 6:05 AM

Photo: Archive

On November 30, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. Apostle Andrew. In Bulgaria the saint is known as Saint Andrey and the folk holiday as Andreevden.

Saint Andrew’s Day gives the start to the series of winter holidays in Bulgaria

Saint Andrew was the brother of the holy first-called apostle Peter and is called the First-Called because he was the first of the apostles to be called to follow the Savior Jesus Christ. From an early age, he despised the vanity of this world and yearned for God's truth. Therefore, he became a disciple of John the Baptist, and then followed the Savior, together with his brother Peter.

When the apostles after Pentecost set out to preach the Word of God in various countries, Apostle Andrew headed north. Through Asia Minor, Greece, along the Bulgarian shores of the Black Sea, he finally reached the country of the Scythians, today's Russia.

The holy apostle died a martyr's death by being crucified on a cross in Patras.

According to historians, St. Andrew was the patron saint of the ancient Bulgarians northwest of the Black Sea, where he preached until his death and converted many pagans to the Christian faith.

It is believed that St. Andrew is the apostle of Orthodox Christians, because he ordained the first bishop in Constantinople - the apostle Stachys. And from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Bulgarians, Serbs, Russians and other Orthodox Slavs received Holy Baptism and chrismation.

It is among the Orthodox Slavic peoples that St. Andrew is particularly revered. He is the spiritual patron of Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries.

The church to Saint Andrew the First-called in Sofia

One of these churches can be found in Sofia's Banishora district. Saint Andrew the First-called Orthodox Church was built in 1926 in memory of the volunteers of the Russo-Turkish War of Liberation 1877-1878, who defended the faith of their ancestors.

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Photos: bg-patriarshia.bg, archive

English publication by Rositsa Petkova

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