Andrew the Apostle

Andrew was a fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee and the brother of Simon Peter (John 1:40-44). He was one of the Twelve Apostles. The Gospel of John says he was first a disciple of John the Baptist. He followed Jesus after hearing the Baptist call him 'the Lamb of God', then brought his brother Simon to Jesus (John 1:35-42). That is why Eastern Christians call him the 'First-Called'. Mark's Gospel tells a different story: Jesus calls Andrew and Simon from their nets by the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16-18). The brothers shared a house in Capernaum (Mark 1:29). Andrew points out the boy with five loaves and two fish (John 6:8-9) and with Philip brings a request from some Greek visitors to Jesus (John 12:20-22). He is listed among the apostles in Jerusalem after the resurrection (Acts 1:13). Later tradition, which Eusebius reports from Origen, assigned him Scythia as his mission field. The apocryphal Acts of Andrew tells of his martyrdom by crucifixion at Patras in Greece. The X-shaped 'St Andrew's cross' is a later development. He is patron of Scotland, Greece and Russia, among others, and the Church of Constantinople claims him as its founding apostle.