ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY Orthodox Calendar
Orthodox Calendar 2024
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Апостол Андрей Первозванный
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Old Style
November 30
Friday
New Style
December 13
25th Week after Pentecost. Tone 7.
Nativity Fast.
Wine and oil allowed.

Совершается служба с полиелеемHoly and All-Praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called (62).

St. Frumentius, archbishop of Abyssinia (380).

Sts. Peter I (5th c.) and Samuel I (5th-6th c.), catholicoses of Georgia. St. Vakhtang Gorgasali, king of Georgia (502). St. Tudwal, bishop in Wales and Brittany (6th c.). St. Andrew (Saguna), metropolitan of Transylvania (1873). St. Elias, schemamonk of Valaam and Verkhoturye (1900). St. Alexander, bishop of Methymna on Lesbos.

Thoughts for Each Day of the Year
According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God
By St. Theophan the Recluse

St. Theophan the Recluse

Friday. [Tit. 1:15-2:10; Luke 20:19-26]

           Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s. This means that each gets what is his own. In our times, instead of “the things which be Caesar’s” we should say, “the things which are earthly.” Also, earthly things have their turn, while Godly things have theirs. But everyone has rushed toward earthly things alone, and they leave the Godly things behind. That is why Godly things not only are left out of their proper place—that is, the first priority—but are completely forgotten. A consequence of this as if unintentional forgetfulness is that the Godly is darkened over in one’s consciousness, and then both its content and foundation become unclear. From this come weakness of conviction and unsteadiness of faith; and then alienation from faith, and influence of the winds of various of teachings. Everyone goes down this path when they begin to be careless about Godly things; society takes this path when it begins to ignore what God requires of it. When Godly things are left in the background, then emancipation from Godly requirements begins to set into society, in the intellectual, moral and aesthetic sense. Secularization (serving the spirit of the time) occurs of politics, customs, entertainment, and then of education and all institutions. At the current time, people do not think, speak, write or even keep Godly things in mind—not in any of their undertakings. Is it surprising, given such a mood, that teachings contrary to the faith find access to society and that society is inclined toward total unbelief?

Articles

The Astonishing Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew

Nun Nectaria (McLees), George Alexandrou

The most important thing is that these puzzle pieces – the separate local traditions of Bulgaria, Romania, Ethiopia, of the Aramaic people, the Syrians, the Copts, even the Greek and Roman church traditions all fit together, but you have to follow them step by step to recreate his life. Finally, I had only one piece that I couldn’t fit, even as a possibility: the Declaration of Arbroath, the fourteenth-century Scottish declaration of independence from England which says that the Scots were taught the Christian faith by St. Andrew himself. Historians dismiss this, but I have to point out that his presence there was not physically impossible.

The Astonishing Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew

Nun Nectaria (McLees), George Alexandrou

After the dormition of the Mother of God, St. Andrew began his final journey from Jerusalem. The trail of tradition says that he went back to Pontus, then to Georgia, to the Caucuses, and to the Sea of Azov in southern Russia. From there he went to Donets, to the Crimea, up the Dnepr River to Kiev and to the Scythians of the Ukraine. In the Crimea, where he stayed with the Greeks of Sebastopol and Cherson, we know that there were first-century Christian communities organized by St. Andrew himself. From the Crimea and Kiev in the Ukraine, he would have gone north by river to what is now Moscow, to Novgorod and then to Lake Ladoga (Valaam).

The Astonishing Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew

Nun Nectaria (McLees)

Also, he had a sense of humor. For example, some of the sources say that when he first saw the saunas of the Slavs in what is now Novgorod he wrote letters to friends saying, “These Slavs are such strange people; they torture themselves with birch branches.” He was laughing about it. You cannot imagine him as a master of strictness. He was a humorous man, very humble, very easy. As a Mediterranean person he was surprised by these strange traditions. Of course, he was also a man who had seen many things.

Homily on the Day of the All-Praised Apostle Andrew the First Called. Man’s true, Eternal Riches

St. John of Kronstadt

This is what it means to possess all things. Truly, having nothing on earth and no passionate attachment to anything earthly, the Apostles possessed everything—all spiritual riches, all spiritual power; all spiritual consolation. They counted everything earthly as rubbish, dust, and vanishing smoke, because they had God Himself living in them, working countless miracles through them and saving through them a countless multitude of people.

Unremitting zeal for the preservation of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Instruction on November 30, the feast of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called

Bishop Vissarion (Nechaev)

Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. This Apostle means very much to the Russian Church. There is tradition that says that during the course of his apostolic journeys, he reached the hills of Kiev and erected a cross there, blessed the people, and pronounced a prophecy: “On these hills will shine forth the grace of God, and a great city will be created here, and the Lord will raise up many churches in it.”

St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle

Nathan Duffy

After following Christ during His earthly ministry, beholding Him after His resurrection, and receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, St. Andrew heeded Our Lord’s commandment to preach the Gospel in all the world and baptize the nations in a most literal and spectacular fashion.

St. Andrew the First-Called

The Moment We Were First Called

Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen

No matter where he was, no matter what he was doing, no matter how dark or cold, he needed to look no further than his own heart, for as St. Paul says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 5.5) Filled with that love, Andrew saw the image of God in everyone he met. He saw the image of God in the poor, the angry, the sick, the despairing, the lonely, the stranger. It was this love of God that allowed him to rejoice and give thanks even as he offered his life as a martyr.

The “Trier Sandal” of Apostle Andrew

Anatoly Kholodiuk

According to tradition, holy Empress Helen brought to Trier the sandal worn on the right foot of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

Apostle Andrew, the Holy and All-Praised First-Called

The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first of the Apostles to follow Christ, and he later brought his own brother, the holy Apostle Peter, to Christ.

St. Frumentius the Archbishop of Abyssinia, Ethiopia

With the blessing of Saint Athanasius, Frumentius was elevated to become Bishop of Abyssinia and he returned to that country, which had sheltered him from his childhood.

St. Vakhtang Gorgasali, King of Georgia

The holy and right-believing king Vakhtang I ascended the throne of Kartli at the age of fifteen.
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