08 — Relics and Veneration
The afterlife of the apostle’s cult: the relics — buried at Patras, translated to Constantinople in 357, the bulk later carried to Amalfi, the head returned to Patras by Pope Paul VI in 1964 — and the feast (November 30) with its remarkable spread of patronages: the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Russia, Romania, Scotland, and Georgia. These files document the translations with their dates and set out the veneration.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
Andrew’s relics became, like the apostolicity of Constantinople, an instrument of ecclesiastical dignity, and their movements are unusually well documented for an apostle. The body was venerated at Patras; in 357, under Constantius II, relics of Andrew (with those of Luke and Timothy) were translated to the new church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople, an act that gave the imperial city apostolic relics to match its growing claims. In the later middle ages the relics traveled west to Amalfi, and the apostle’s head, taken to Rome, was famously returned to Patras by Pope Paul VI in 1964. The feast on November 30 is kept across the Orthodox world, and Andrew is patron of an extraordinary range of peoples and Churches. These files document the translations and the patronages with their sources and dates.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Relics | The history of the relics: burial at Patras; the translation to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople (357) under Constantius II; the dispersal, the relics at Amalfi; the head at Rome and its return to Patras by Pope Paul VI in 1964; what is and is not securely attested. |
| Veneration and Patronages | The feast of November 30 and its liturgical observance; the title Prōtoklētos; the Order of St. Andrew (the “Archons”) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate; the patronages of Constantinople, Russia, Romania, Scotland, and Georgia, each with its basis and history. |
See Also
- The Cross of Patras — the death that produced the relics
- The Apostolic Throne of Constantinople — the dignity the 357 translation served
- Reception and Legacy — the long afterlife of the cult
- The Church of Constantinople — the see whose patron Andrew is
References
- Dvornik, Francis. The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium and the Legend of the Apostle Andrew. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
- Mango, Cyril. “Constantine’s Mausoleum and the Translation of Relics.” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 83 (1990): 51–62.
- Woodward, E. L., and others, as cited; The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, 3rd ed. Oxford: OUP, 2005, s.v. “Andrew, St.”