Saturday, November 30
ST. ANDREW, Apostle and Martyr
Called the 'Protoklitos' (first-called) in Greek because he and his brother Simon Peter were the first disciples to follow Jesus, he is considered to have established the See of Byzantium in AD 38, which later became the Patriarchate of Constantinople, of which he is the patron saint. After Pentecost, he is said to have preached in Asia Minor, parts of present-day Ukraine and Russia, and Greece where he was martyred in Patras by crucifixion on an X-shaped cross, now called St. Andrew's Cross (it appears in the flags of Scotland and the United Kingdom). He is a patron saint of Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Scotland, and Sicily. Benedict XVI gave a catechesis on St. Andrew on June 14, 2006, The English translation may be found on
freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=354486&p=7
No OR today.
THE POPE'S DAY
The Holy Father met today with
- H.E. Alan García Pérez, President of Peru, and his delegation
- Bishops of Brazil (South Sector-3, Group 1) on ad-limina visit
- HRH Otto of Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria, and his delegation
The Vatican released the text of the Holy Father's message to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I
of Constantinople on the occasion of the Feast of St. Andrew today. The message was delivered by
Cardinal Walter Kasper, who headed the Vatican delegation that attended the observance today
at the Phanar in Constantinople.