Bellshill Central Parish Church, your town centre church, was lit up BLUE from Friday 29th November to Monday 2nd December each night as it was St Andrew’s Weekend.
Here are some other surprising facts about Saint Andrew you might not have known – and the day we celebrate in his honour.
He’s not just Scotland’s patron saint
St Andrew officially became Scotland’s patron saint in 1320, when the Declaration of Arbroath affirmed Scotland’s status as an independent nation.
But he’s not just Scotland’s patron saint. Saint Andrew, who was born in Israel between 5 and 10 AD, holds the same honour in Amalfi, Barbados, Greece, Poland, Russia, Romania and Ukraine.
He was a fisherman who converted to Christianity and became one of Jesus Christ’s original disciples, so perhaps it’s no surprise he’s also the patron saint of fishermen and fishmongers. Why he’s the patron saint of singers and pregnant woman and is believed to offer protection against sore throats and gout is not so clear.
He never came to Scotland… but parts of him did
Saint Andrew never actually visited Scotland during his lifetime but his kneecap, arm and fingerbone did arrive in Scotland – among other relics – after his death.
Fourth century monk Saint Rule was instructed to take them and sail west until he became shipwrecked and to establish a church wherever he landed.
He ended up in the small coastal village of Kilrymont, which we now know as St Andrews. St Andrews Cathedral was built to house the relics in 1318, but both were destroyed during the Scottish Reformation.
