Andrew
Saint Andrew is the patron of fishermen because he was one: a fisherman of Galilee whom Jesus called from his nets with the promise to make him a fisher of men (Matthew 4:18-19). Rope makers claim him because nets and the cordage of boats were his daily craft. His patronage against sore throat and gout, and of singers, comes from popular devotion that gathered around so prominent an apostle rather than from any one recorded incident. He is the patron of Scotland because relics said to be his were carried there, and his X-shaped cross — the saltire on which tradition says he was crucified at Patras, judging himself unworthy to die as the Lord had — became Scotland’s national flag; he is likewise honored as patron of Greece, where he preached, and of Russia.
Saint Andrew was a fisherman and the first apostle called by Jesus, and the brother of Saint Peter. Originally a disciple of John the Baptist, he introduced his brother Peter to Jesus. Tradition holds that he preached in Greece and was martyred in Patras on an X-shaped cross, now known as Saint Andrew’s Cross.
