St. Andrews Day

In most Christian countries and for many centuries the last day in November has been observed as the feast day of St Andrew. The Church Calendar begins with Advent (defined as the nearest Sunday to St Andrew’s Day), and it seems fitting that Andrew, the first of Christ’s disciples, should have the distinction of coming first in the Church Year. In Scotland - and wherever else Scots are gathered - November 30th is celebrated as our national day, for St Andrew is Scotland’s patron saint and the St Andrew’s Cross (or Satire) is Scotland’s flag.
 

The story of St. Andrew is a complex one, with different versions and interpretations. It is now impossible to know what the “true” story is.

After Christ's crucifixion, one version of the legend is that Andrew went to Greece to preach Christianity, where he was crucified for his beliefs at a place called Patras, on a cross in the form of an X. However, the X-shaped cross played little part in early legends of St. Andrew and indeed in early versions of the tale, Andrew was nailed to an olive tree, not a cross.

As legend would have it, a Greek Monk called St. Rule had a dream telling of the  removal of St. Andrew's remains to Constantinople by Constantine The Great,  and was instructed by an angel to find them and take as much of them as he could to the "ends of the earth" for safe-keeping.

St. Rule took various body parts from St. Andrew's tomb and followed the instructions he had been given in his dream. However, on his journey he was shipwrecked off the east coast of Scotland. The relics were housed for a while in the Cathedral of St. Andrews in 1160, however they are now lost, probably destroyed during the Scottish Reformation.

It became a custom for farm workers to mark the day by catching rabbits then feasting and drinking, though nowadays it is typically celebrated by Scots communities around the world.