We pay homage to Saint Andrew considered the patron saint of the ancient Bulgarians

Saint Andrew was the brother of the holy first-called apostle Peter and is called the First-Called because he was the first of the apostles to be called to follow the Savior Jesus Christ. From an early age, he despised the vanity of this world and yearned for God's truth. Therefore, he became a disciple of John the Baptist, and then followed the Savior, together with his brother Peter.

When the apostles after Pentecost set out to preach the Word of God in various countries, Apostle Andrew headed north. Through Asia Minor, Greece, along the Bulgarian shores of the Black Sea, he finally reached the country of the Scythians, today's Russia.

The holy apostle died a martyr's death by being crucified on a cross in Patras.

According to historians, St. Andrew was the patron saint of the ancient Bulgarians northwest of the Black Sea, where he preached until his death and converted many pagans to the Christian faith.

It is believed that St. Andrew is the apostle of Orthodox Christians, because he ordained the first bishop in Constantinople - the apostle Stachys. And from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Bulgarians, Serbs, Russians and other Orthodox Slavs received Holy Baptism and chrismation.

It is among the Orthodox Slavic peoples that St. Andrew is particularly revered. He is the spiritual patron of Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries.

Photos: bg-patriarshia.bg, archive