Happy St. Andrew’s Day!

To my Scottish brethren who are scattered all over the world– Happy St. Andrew’s Day! Alba gu bràth!

St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and every November 30th is St. Andrew’s Day. Scotland.org has a fantastic website about this important day. They even have this Saltire Yourself app. A saltire is a diagonal cross, also called St. Andrew’s Cross, which is the basis for the Scottish flag.

Andrew and his brother Peter were the first apostles that Jesus called. Peter is said to have been crucified upside down in Rome at his own request because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. Andrew was supposedly crucified on a diagonal cross in the Greek city of Patrus, also at his own request for the same reason. The diagonal cross is now associated with Andrew.

You can read more about the Scottish flag and the origins of St. Andrew’s Day here.

Cuimhnichibh air na daoine bho’n d’thainig sibh– remember the people who you come from. Today there are about 50 million people of Scottish descent worldwide. St. Andrew’s Day is a celebration of Scottish culture and pride for Protestants, Catholics, and everyone else who loves Scotland. 

Thank you to Homepaddock in New Zealand for reminding me about this important holiday.

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For that is the mark of the Scots of all classes: that he stands in an attitude towards the past unthinkable to Englishmen, and remembers and cherishes the memory of his forebears, good or bad; and there burns alive in him a sense of identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation.

-Robert Louis Stevenson

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