This Wednesday, MCI will be celebrating St Andrews Day! St Andrew has been the patron saint of Scotland since 1320 when The Declaration of Arbroath was signed declaring Scotland’s independence. Feasts have been held in St Andrew’s honour since 1000AD.
Our flag, the saltire, is also known as the St Andrews Cross. The town of St Andrews, on the east coast of Scotland in Fife, is so named because it is claimed to be the final resting place of St Andrew’s bones.
The story goes that St Rule, the Bishop of Patras in Greece, fled to the east coast of Scotland with the relics of St Andrew and left them there. King Angus of Scotland then built a monastery in St Andrews paying tribute to the Saint and later he claimed that the relics led him to victory in battle against the Saxons after St Andrew appeared to King Angus in a dream.
During the medieval times, St Andrews was a very important pilgrimage site and people would come from far and wide to blessed / cured at St Andrew’s shrine. You can visit St Andrews and still visit the impressive ruins of the monestry.