Share this:

St. Andrew is the national saint of Romanians and Romanian Orthodox Church, Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, and Russia. St. Andrew’s Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew in Scotland. It is celebrated on 30 November.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew’s Day is Scotland’s official national day. Although most commonly associated with Scotland, In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht (“St. Andrew’s Night”), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet (“St. Andrew’s Prayer”), and in Poland as Andrzejki (“Andrews”).

In Romania, it is customary for young women to put 41 grains of wheat beneath their pillow before they go to sleep, and if they dream that someone is coming to steal their grains that means that they are going to get married next year. Also in some other part of the country the young women light a candle from the Easter, and bring it, at midnight, to a fountain. When the water is well lit, they say a prayer to St. Andrew asking them to let them get a glimpse of the face of their future husband. After the prayer is over, usually the water moves and the young women can see the face of their beloved.

A tradition of St Andrew runs like this:

One missed step can make you stumble
You set yourself up for a fall
You punish yourself for each failure,
Dogma beat out alcohol
When all of your principles were fashioned
You thought your new rules made you new
But maybe those X’s on your hands are what’s killing you

Chorus:
The Cross of Saint Andrew
Never meant to take His place
The Cross of Saint Andrew
Echoes of His grace

When Saint Andrew knew the measure
He knew the cost of sacrifice
He left all that he knew behind him
Great things come at such great price
But all of this never brought the answers
Obedience comes with controversy
What changed him changes me today
Christ has mercy

Chorus:
The Cross of Saint Andrew
Never meant to take His place
The Cross of Saint Andrew
Echoes of His grace

All your sins can be forgiven
All of this was always free
Jesus loves without condition
This is what freedom means to me

Nihil ergo nunc damnationis
Est his qui sunt in Christo Iesu
Qui non secundum carnem ambulant
(There is therefore now no condemnation
To them which are in Christ Jesus,
Who walk not after the flesh,
But after the Spirit)
-Romans 8:1,2

(This is not an original text.)

Advertisement