Saint Andrew was Saint Peter’s brother and was called with him. “As [Jesus] was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is now called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20). 

Saint John the Evangelist presents Saint Andrew as a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus walked by one day, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Andrew and another disciple followed Jesus. “Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day” (John 1:38-39a). 

Little else is said about Saint Andrew in the Gospels. Before the multiplication of the loaves, it was Saint Andrew who spoke up about boy who had the barley loaves and fishes (see John 6:8-9). When the Gentiles went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip had recourse to Andrew (see John 12:20-22). 

Legend has it that Saint Andrew preached the Good News in what is now modern Greece and Turkey and was crucified at Patras. The Gospels give us little about the holiness of Saint Andrew. He was an Apostle. That is enough. He was called personally by Jesus to proclaim the Good News, to heal with Jesus’ power and to share his life and death. Saint Andrew was martyred and crucified. He asked to be nailed to a cross different from the Cross of Jesus. In his case it was a diagonal or X-shaped cross, which has thus become known as “Saint Andrew’s Cross.”

Foley, Leonard, and Pat McCloskey. Saint of the Day. 7th ed., Franciscan Media, 2013.