St. Andrew is the patron Saint of Scotland, so I thought it good to remind people of such. According to my Scottish-Canadian friend Lorraine Cowan, St. Andrew’s Day is generally filled with singing, dancing, eating, and…well…drinking Scotch. During the pandemic, the Scotch consumption will probably be the greatest bit of celebrating.
Here’s what the writer Rosa Giorgi has to say about St. Andrew, in her book Saints: A Year in Faith and Art:
“Saint Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and like him a fisherman at Capernaum. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and among the first to follow Jesus. He seems to have died a martyr around 60. His cult was especially popular during the Middle Ages. Since he was given the traits of a warrior saint, the symbol of his cross was chosen by various chivalric orders. Since the 10th century, he has been depicted with an X-shaped cross and sometimes the fishing net with fish. He is invoked against injustice, among other conditions.”