Celebrating St. Andrew's Day in Scotland. St. Andrew's Day - the patron saint of Scotland: history and traditions of the holiday. Lives of the Saints of Great Britain and Ireland

Despite the image of prim ladies and gentlemen that has developed in the world, the British also love to relax and celebrate their national holidays. Getting to know the culture and history of the country of Elizabeth II, as well as understanding the mentality of the royal nation, is impossible without British celebrations. Let's look at the main ones. We are ready. Are you?

Initially, UK public holidays and public holidays should be separated. Not every festival will be a day off, and not every day off will be a holiday. By the way, in Russia there are also a number of celebrations that we celebrate with pleasure, although the state does not allow us to take a break from work.

Bank holidays in Britain are called Bank holidays, because neither banks nor other official bodies work these days:

Northern Ireland has two additional holidays per year: St. Patrick's Day(March 17) - St. Patrick's Day and " Battle of the Boyne» Celebration(July 12) - Anniversary of the momentous Battle of the Boyne. The Scots rest for 2 days in honor of the New Year (January 1-2) and have an additional day off in honor of St. Andrew's Day ( St. Andrew's Day) November 30th, who is their patron saint.

No less significant are other holidays in the UK, which, however, require presence at the workplace:

TABLE OF UK HOLIDAYS

WHEN	NAME	A COUNTRY KINGDOMS
The 25th of January	Burns Night Burns Night	Scotland
The 14th of February	Valentine's Day St. Valentine's Day	The whole state
March 1	Saint David's Day St. David's Day	Wales
4th Sunday Lent	Mothers Day Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday	The whole state
April 1	Fool's Day Fool's Day/April Fools Day	The whole state
April 1	Fool's Day Fool's Day/April Fools Day	The whole state
April 23	St. George's Day St. George's Day	England
1st of May	Beltane Beltane/Beltain	Scotland, Ireland
1st, 2nd or 3rd Saturday June	Queen's Birthday Queen's Official Birthday	The whole state
3rd Sunday of June	Father's Day Father's Day	The whole state
August 1-8	Eisteddfod Eisteddfod	Wales
August 1-25	Edinburgh Fringe Festival Edinburgh Festival Fringe	The whole state
Last weekend of August	Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill Carnival	The whole state
October 31	Halloween Halloween	The whole state
November 5	Bonfire Night Bonfire's Night	The whole state
11th of November	Day of Remembrance Remembrance Day	The whole state
November 30th	St. Andrew's Day St. Andrew's Day	Scotland
December 25	Christmas Christmas or Xmas	The whole state
December 26	Boxing Day Boxing Day	The whole state

Read more about holidays in England

Holidays such as Christmas, April Fool's Day or Halloween in the UK have become widespread in the CIS countries. But let's take a closer look at those English holidays that have no analogues in the post-Soviet space.

• Burns Night- anniversary of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Scottish culture blooms in all its colors on this day: men dress in traditional checkered kilts, the sounds of bagpipes are heard, and at the festive table you can try the national dish of lamb offal with lard, onions and seasonings, cooked in a lamb stomach - haggies.

• Queen's Birthday(monarch) - according to documents, Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926, but since the mid-18th century it has been customary to celebrate the ruler’s name day separately from the real date of birth. Since the beginning of the 20th century, this day has been celebrated in June so that the warm summer hours, which are rare for Foggy Albion, do not go to waste. Traditionally, such holidays in London are accompanied by a military parade, which is always attended by the royal family.

• Beltane- a holiday of fire, light and the beginning of summer. Beltane's second name is Walpurgis Night. It is customary to light fires and jump over them to undergo purification. Those who have livestock spend it between lit fires and animals.
• Eistetvod and Fringe- the largest festivals of songs, dances and other arts in Europe. These days, representatives of a wide variety of nationalities come to Edinburgh to perform on one of the many open-air stages.
• Bonfire Night celebrated in honor of not the most rosy event in British history. In 1605, on the night of November 5th, Guy Fawkes (leader of the Gunpowder Plot) tried to blow up the London House of Parliament in order to destroy King James I. The cause of disagreement was religion, since James I was a Protestant, and members of the Gunpowder Plot were Catholics who wanted to see the power of only a Catholic monarch. Fortunately, the explosion of the powder barrels in the basement was prevented, Guy Fawkes was captured and executed, and after that, every November 5th, the people of Great Britain organize a large-scale fireworks display and burn an effigy symbolizing Guy Fawkes.

• IN Remembrance Day in the UK honor the memory of soldiers who died in the First World War. The symbol of the holiday is a red poppy, which is threaded into the buttonhole of a jacket. Poppy petals bloom on the chest, symbolizing wounds received in battle. John McCrae, a Canadian physician and poet, celebrated the beauty of this flower and its connection to warfare in his poem "In Flanders Fields." On this day, it is customary to lay flowers at military monuments, and at 11 o'clock on November 11, in many Commonwealth countries it is customary to observe a minute of silence.

Christmas For the British it is a more important holiday than New Year. It is celebrated on November 25 according to Catholic traditions associated with the difference between the Gregorian and church calendars. People carefully prepare for this day: they decorate houses, decorate the Christmas tree, and select gifts for family and friends. It is customary to hold night services in churches, as well as theatrical performances on religious themes.

St. Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is already firmly rooted in our community. Traditionally, on the Day of Love, February 14, it is customary to send cards in the shape of hearts - Valentine's cards, as well as secretly confess your feelings. According to legend, St. Valentin was an ordinary priest and field doctor who secretly married lovers in cruel war times. The fact is that the government believed that a single man would fight better on the battlefield, since his heart would not be drawn home to his family, his beloved wife and children. Therefore, military personnel were forbidden to marry. And Saint Valentine, sympathizing with the young people, tied them in marriage, for which he was captured and imprisoned. There he met the warden's daughter and fell in love with her, but could not admit his feelings. When the time for execution approached, Valentin decided to confess and wrote a love letter to his beloved, which she read after the execution on February 14, 269.

Halloween Initially, it was not celebrated for the sake of collecting candy and scary costumes. Historically, the holiday is based on the Celtic rite of Samhain and the Christian All Saints' Day. It is on October 31, according to popular belief, that the line between our world and the other world becomes especially thin. This allows creatures from the afterlife to penetrate us and drag away the living with them. To prevent the spirits from touching them, the Celts put on scary masks and turned off the lights in their homes, which attracted ghosts. Nowadays, costume parties are more entertaining in nature, and children “carol” around the neighbors, begging for sweets with the words “trick or treat.” If you don’t treat the restless little ones with something sweet, they may well play some mischief - litter the house with toilet paper, hide garden gnomes, or stain the railings with molasses.

Conclusion

Some of the English holidays are very similar to ours. For example, New Year, Christmas or Easter. Others vaguely resemble our celebrations, but are based on completely different historical events (compare the English Bonfire Night and our Maslenitsa). The British also have their own traditions that have no analogues in our culture.

Study the rituals and traditions of Great Britain using our website, or even better, go to England and see everything with your own eyes!

Happy upcoming holidays and celebrations!

Big and friendly EnglishDom family

How did it happen that the name of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was associated with Scotland, although Andrey himself had never been to those parts? There are two versions on this matter. The first is more legendary than the second. These are the events that took place according to the first. In 345, the Roman emperor (legend names the name of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine I the Great, but this is a gross historical mistake, for Constantine died in 337) ordered the transfer of the relics of the apostle from the city of Patras (where he suffered martyrdom) to Constantinople. An angel appeared to a certain holy monk Regulus in a vision and ordered him to take a piece of the relics and take it to the “ends of the earth.” After spending a long time wandering, Regulus came to the territory of modern Scotland, to the lands that are still called Fife. The legend tells that he was warmly received by the local king of the Picts, successfully preached the Gospel to the local residents and placed the relics of the Holy Apostle in the area where he later
the city of St. Andrews arose.

The Church of St Regulus in St Andrews Fife, built in the 11th century to house the relics of the legendary saint.

According to the second, more plausible version, in the 7th century, St. Wilfrid the Great, when he was the bishop of Hexema (the diocese of Hexema also included part of the Scottish lands), during his next trip to Rome, brought a particle of the relics of the Holy Apostle to his diocese. Alternatively, Saint Akka of Hexem could have brought the relics. Subsequently, the relic was presented as a gift to the king of the Scots, Angus MacFergus, who, in honor of this significant event, founded the city of St. Andrews. It is not known exactly which Angus it was - Angus I or Angus II. The same legend says that during the invasion of Scotland by a foreign army (possibly an army of the Angles or Vikings), King Angus asked for intercession and help from the Lord and St. Andrew. And the Lord helped the pious king through the prayers of St. Andrew: when the two armies met on the battlefield, suddenly a sign appeared in the sky - white clouds in the azure sky formed into the X-shaped cross of St. Andrew (Saltire). Inspired by the sign, the Scottish warriors rushed towards the enemy and won a decisive victory. After such a significant event, King Angus declared St. Andrew the patron saint of Scotland and ordered that the St. Andrew's Cross be considered the state symbol of the country. Skeptics, however, say that this event is just a beautiful historical legend that appeared no earlier than the 12th century. Be that as it may, the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 proclaimed St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called the heavenly patron of Scotland for all eternity. And in 1385, during the reign of Emperor Robert II Stuart, Saltire was approved as the national flag of the country. And of course, these events became possible, not least thanks to ancient legends about St. Andrew’s patronage of the Scottish land.

Based on materials posted on the website of historian David Nash Ford.

P.S. It is very, very likely that the Scottish flag served as a model for the St. Andrew's flag of the Russian fleet. It is believed that Tsar Peter the Great, during his visit to Britain, really liked this Scottish symbol, and he borrowed it for use in Russia, changing only the color of the oblique cross and the background on which the cross is located.

And yet - until recently, I believed that the Confederate battle flag also had its origins in the Scottish flag. Well, there are many descendants of Scottish emigrants in America and they could have introduced symbols of their historical homeland into American heraldry. But, as the English-language Wiki narrates, most likely the Confederate traces its origins to the Burgundy Cross, which was a symbol of Florida, one of the states of the Confederacy. And Florida borrowed this symbol from the Spaniards, who once owned this land. Well, the Spaniards, in turn, borrowed the Burgudian Cross from Burgundy, whose heavenly patron is also Saint Andrew the First-Called.

Theories of connection between Andrew and Scotland

There could be two reasons why St. Andrew was chosen as the patron saint of Scotland. According to the first, in the middle of the 4th century, by order of Emperor Constantine the Great, the relics of Saint Andrew were transferred from Patras to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The monk Rules, who was entrusted with this task, saw an angel appear in a dream. The angel told him that most of the remains should be taken far to the northeast.

During the sea passage, the ship with the monk on board was wrecked, but Rules, along with the relics, washed up on the east coast of Scotland, near the city of Fife. There a settlement called St. Andrews was founded.

The second theory is this: Saint Wilfrid, Bishop of Exham, who lived in Scotland in the 7th-8th centuries, brought home part of the relics of Saint Andrew from a trip to Rome. The relics came into the possession of the king of cattle, Angus Macfergus, who brought them to St. Andrews to increase the prestige of the local bishopric.

Another legend is associated with the names of St. Andrew and King Angus: one day, when King Angus was preparing for battle over the army of the King of Northumbria, while praying in the sky, the king saw a white cross against the blue sky. Angus won a landslide victory, after which he declared St. Andrew the patron saint of his country.

It was only after the famous victory of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314 that St. Andrew was officially proclaimed Guardian of Scotland, and the blue and white banner with the diagonal cross of St. Andrew the First-Called became the flag of the country in 1385.

The stern flag of the ships of the Navy of the Russian Empire from 1720 to 1918, since 1992 - the naval flag of the Russian Federation and, since 2000, the banner of the Navy of the Russian Federation, the so-called St. Andrew's flag has “mirror colors” - blue diagonal cross on a white background.

First introduced by Peter the Great. The first admiral's flag with the St. Andrew's Cross occupying the entire flag was approved only by the Ship's Charter of 1720. When preparing the Charter, Peter I gave the following description of the flag: “The flag is white, across it there is a blue St. Andrew’s Cross, with which he christened Russia.” In this form, the St. Andrew's flag existed in the Russian Navy until November 1917.

There is also another theory. According to an old legend, the Scots tribe came to the British Isles from the Scythian steppes of the Black Sea, where in the 1st century Andrew the First-Called preached the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is noteworthy that the “Scottish-Slavic connection” made itself felt 17 centuries after the death of the apostle. The Scots played a significant role in the establishment of the order and flag of St. Andrew the First-Called in Russia, only in Russia it is “turned inside out” - a blue cross on a white background.

Recognition did not come immediately

The city of St. Andrews, now a place of pilgrimage for golfers, was a magnet for Christian pilgrims in the Middle Ages and was the religious capital of Scotland.

Despite the fact that the two theories about the "Scottish" roots of St. Andrew are so different from each other, one thing is clear: the village, later named St. Andrews, was originally - from the 5th century - a place where early Christians lived.

Despite the biblical past of St. Andrew, all-Scottish recognition did not come to him immediately, since by the time his cult grew in different parts of the country, the population had already worshiped different Christian saints. In the first centuries, the cult of St. Andrew coexisted mainly among the Picts, although later his image was used by King Constantine II to form a single nation from the Picts and Scots.

King David I of Scots, who lived in the first half of the 12th century, actively advocated for the city of St. Andrews, then an episcopal center, to become an archbishopric of Scotland. The huge cathedral, whose construction began in 1160, was supposed to be larger in size than the cathedrals of Canterbury and York, which lay claim to governing the Scottish Church. Construction continued until 1318.

In 1559, during the turbulent time of the Reformation, the temple with the relics of St. Andrew in St. Andrews was destroyed.
On June 11, 1559, the Scottish religious reformer John Knox, who laid the foundations of the Presbyterian Church, read an anti-Catholic sermon in one of the parish churches in the city of St. Andrews. Straight from the service, angry parishioners went to St. Andrew's Cathedral and destroyed the magnificent decoration of the cathedral, which, in their opinion, contradicted Reformed traditions. Already on June 14, the cathedral and its friary practically ceased to function, priests and monks were forcibly expelled from St. Andrews.
In subsequent decades, there was debate about the restoration of one of the most magnificent cathedrals in Scotland, but by the end of the 17th century the cathedral was already completely destroyed, and the building materials were used to build other buildings in the city of St. Andrews. Until 1826, no action was taken to preserve the remains of the cathedral.

View of the preserved nave of the cathedral.

By the 21st century, the cathedral was preserved only in fragments; they are trying to maintain the ruins in decent condition to preserve the heritage and attract tourists.

Part of the western wall has been preserved, as well as one of the naves of the cathedral.

Most of the territory of the cathedral is occupied by an ancient cemetery; open crypts are also visible on the site of the cathedral. The ruins of the cathedral indicate its enormous size for the early Middle Ages; the length of the cathedral was more than 100 meters.

Only 320 years later, other remains of St. Andrew again come to Scotland - from Italy.

The relics of St. Andrew - or at least part of them - can be seen in Scotland to this day: in St. Andrews and Edinburgh.

Ekaterina Dobrovolskaya,
specially for bbcrussian.com, London

And also based on Wikipedia materials.

Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland

Saint Andrew was one of the 12 apostles, disciples of Jesus Christ. And before that, he was a fisherman in Galilee, like his brother Peter.

After the death of Christ, the first missionaries - the apostles - began to convert pagans to the Christian faith.

St. Andrew preached Christianity in Asia Minor, Greece and Scythia.

Roman Kravchuk

Holy All-praised Apostle Andrew the First-Called

erects a cross on the Kyiv mountains

An ancient legend says that the beginning of Christian preaching in Rus' was laid by the Apostle Andrew. Scientists are still arguing about its truth. Tradition tells that St. Andrew preached the Gospel to the Dnieper mountains, on which Kyiv later arose, and installed a cross there.

Then the apostle climbed up the Dnieper, reached Novgorod and returned back to Rome. About the visit to Novgorod in the chronicle there is only one mention of the custom of the Novgorodians to take a steam bath in the baths, which surprised the apostle.

It is believed that in 62 AD. St. Andrew was captured by Roman legionaries in the Greek city of Patras (Patras), and suffered martyrdom on the cross. According to legend, Andrei asked the authorities who sentenced him to execution not for mercy, but only that his cross, intended for crucifixion, should not be similar to the cross of the Savior, since he considered himself unworthy to end his life exactly like his Teacher. Therefore, Andrew the First-Called was crucified on an oblique cross resembling the letter “X,” which went down in history under the name “St. Andrew’s cross.” For two days Andrei hung on the cross, teaching the townspeople the Christian faith.

Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo

The Suffering of St. Andrew

His remains were kept in the monastery until the mid-4th century AD, when Emperor Constantine ordered the relics of the saint to be transported to Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The keeper of the holy relics was the Greek monk St. Regulus. At night an angel appeared to him and ordered him to take his relics far away, to the ends of the world. He did just that - he took the relics across all of Europe, to Caledonia, for this was the farthest corner of the Roman Empire. In those days it was a wild land, inhabited by cruel and unruly Celtic tribes.

The burial place of the holy relics became a place of pilgrimage for all Christians who inhabited Scotland, and over time it was called the city of St. Andrew (St. Andrews), which turned into the religious center of Scotland, and the saint himself became the heavenly patron of the Scots and Picts. And to this day, Apostle Andrew is considered the patron saint of Scotland, although all his activities took place quite far from the shores of this country.

St Andrews

The continuation of this story is associated with the Pictish king Aengus II. The most famous Pictish king (from the time before McAlpine), Angus McFergus conquered neighboring Dal Riada and for a time both countries merged into a single state.

According to legend, in 832, the united army of Picts and Scots under the leadership of King Aengus was surrounded by an army of Angles under the command of King Athelstan.

Neither the king nor his army were sure of the outcome of the upcoming battle. Angus earnestly prayed all night to God and the saints so that the Scots would be granted victory, and when he fell asleep, he saw the Apostle Andrew, who promised his help. The next day, before the start of the battle, the warriors saw above them in the blue sky a cloud in the form of an oblique cross.

This spectacle so inspired the Picts and Scots and terrified their opponents that the Angles were defeated, and their leader King Athelstan died during the retreat. And Angus II made the oblique cross the national symbol of his country.

But it was only after Robert the Bruce's famous victory over the English at Bannockbarn in 1314 that Saint Andrew was officially proclaimed Guardian of Scotland.

However, it is not entirely clear why in the 9th century King Athelstan from southern England moved north through the possessions of the King of Notumbria to fight the Scots... But one way or another, today nearby, in sight of the battle site, in an ancient building of the 16th century The Scottish Flag Museum is located (the Flag Heritage Centre).

Scottish Flag Museum

Despite the biblical past of St. Andrew, all-Scottish recognition did not come to him immediately, since by the time his cult grew in different parts of the country, the population had already worshiped different Christian saints. In the first centuries, the cult of St. Andrew coexisted mainly among the Picts, although later his image was used by King Constantine II to form a single nation from the Picts and Scots.

King David I of Scots, who lived in the first half of the 12th century, actively advocated for the city of St. Andrews, then an episcopal center, to become an archbishopric of Scotland. The huge cathedral, whose construction began in 1160, was supposed to be larger in size than the cathedrals of Canterbury and York, which lay claim to governing the Scottish Church. Construction took place over 150 years, right up to 1318. Alas, during the Reformation the cathedral was completely destroyed. Its size can be judged from the preserved nave and ruins - its length was 100 meters.

The relics of St. Andrew are kept in St. Andrews and Edinburgh, or at least part of them.

St Andrew's Cathedral in St Andrews

5.3k (28 per week)

History of St. Andrew

Every year on November 30, Scotland celebrates the feast of St. Andrew the First-Called, which, according to the Bible, was a simple fisherman, but led such a righteous life that he became one of the 12 apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. Saint Andrew is considered the heavenly patron of Scotland and his name is revered by local residents like no other. It is believed that Russia and Greece are associated with the activities of St. Andrew, where this saint is also revered with special reverence. Historical sources claim that after the death of the Savior, Saint Andrew went to preach in Scythia, then installed a cross in Kyiv and continued to spread the Christian faith in the places where Veliky Novgorod was later founded. Andrew is considered a great martyr, since his death in Greek Patras was violent - in 62 AD. the saint was crucified on an equiaxed cross, the image of which is present on the flag of Scotland and naval banners, where two intersecting lines are called the St. Andrew's Cross. The pagan ruler sentenced Saint Andrew to death, seeing how in his hometown of Aegeates, the speeches of a pious man had a strong influence on people. After one of the sermons, Andrei was arrested and crucified on a cross, on which he hung for two days, all this time bringing the true faith in God to the local residents.

Saint Andrew in Scottish history

According to scientists, there are two versions of the connection between St. Andrew and Scotland. First version states that, by order of Emperor Constantine, the relics of the great martyr were stored in the middle of the 4th century AD. were transferred to Constantinople, but an angel appeared to one of the monks, who said that part of the saint’s remains should be taken to distant lands located in the northeast. On the ship, the relics, accompanied by the monk Rules, were sent far from their first location, but storms and storms led to a shipwreck. Miraculously, the surviving novice retained the relics and landed with them on a boat to the nearest shore, which turned out to be Scotland. Rules landed near the city of Fife, where a small settlement was subsequently founded, which was given the name in honor of the saint - St. Andrews.
According to the second version, The relics of the righteous man were brought to Scottish soil by the Bishop of Exham, who lived here in the 6th and 7th centuries. A cleric called Saint Wilfrid brought the remains of the Apostle from Rome to enhance the prestige of the bishopric.
The Scots themselves claim that Saint Andrew appeared to their king Angus during the battle with the ruler of Northumbria. The Scottish monarch prayed so earnestly that in the blue sky he saw a vision of a snow-white cross. The king won a landslide victory in the battle and made the sign of St. Andrew - a white cross on a blue background - part of the national flag of the “country of the Celts.” The Apostle Andrew was officially proclaimed a Saint in 1314, after the victory of the famous Robert the Bruce at the city of Bannockburn, and since 1385 the blue and white banner with a diagonal cross has become the Scottish emblem and flag.

St Andrews - religious capital of Scotland

Today, St. Andrews boasts excellent golf courses that regularly attract golf lovers from all over the world to play. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims and Christian monks flocked to the city in droves, who wanted to see with their own eyes the place where the remains of the great martyr were buried. Despite the difference in theories about the “Scottish trace” of St. Andrew, one fact has been established for sure - indeed, the first Christian settlements were founded on the site of St. Andrews in the 5th century. All-Scotland recognition did not come to Saint Andrew immediately, due to the fact that in different regions of the country the population chose their own righteous person to worship. The active promotion of the cult of St. Andrew was promoted by the Scots ruler David I, who lived in the 12th century. His ambition was to make St Andrews the center of a local bishopric under the Scottish Archbishopric. Unfortunately, the temple, built specifically to store the relics of St. Andrew, was destroyed in the mid-16th century, after which the remains of the great martyr came to Scotland from Italy for the second time only three centuries later. Today, the relics of St. Andrew are located in two Scottish cities - the capital Edinburgh and St. Andrews.

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