The Feast of St. Andrew

St. Andrew has a special place in my heart and in my devotional life. When we think of St. Andrew, most of us remember that it is held that he was the first Apostle, a fisherman, and brother of Simon Peter. There are two principal reasons he is important in my life. First, he is the patron saint of Scotland and I met my husband in Scotland. Second, he is also the patron saint of Greece.

My grandparents were Greek Orthodox and lived with my family all through my childhood. While he and my grandmother spoke Greek around us, I never learned the language except to count to ten, and to say hello and thank you. For the most part, Greek food was my main connection to my Greek ancestry.

There is a Greek tradition of celebrating the feast day of the saint for whom you were named. In fact, for Greeks, this day is much more important and gives greater cause for celebration than your birthday. While my grandparents practiced this tradition, the rest of my family did not.

As I continued to be formed in the faith, the Communion of Saints and devotional practices of intercessory prayer involving the saints became extremely important to me. I think it was with my first pregnancy and healthy birth of my first son that my first true devotion to a saint took place. And can you guess to whom? Our Blessed Mother! Mary continues to be what I lovingly and respectfully refer to as my “go to” saint. She is my everyday saint but also my “big gun” so to speak. I have spent many a night praying to Mary, especially when waiting for a fever to break (one of my sons), blood work results (one of my sons), or simply waiting for the garage door to open on a Saturday night (you guessed it, one of my sons was due home). My devotion to her is not limited to prayers for my sons, however. I “go to” her during times of discernment, times of great joy, times of anxiety, times of sorrow, and times of thankfulness. I also pray to Jesus through her.

Where am I going with this? As unbelievable as it sounds, when my husband and I decided to name our second son Andrew, we did not realize that the feast of St. Andrew was on November 30, which happens to be my birthday! The Holy Spirit was truly at work.

I share many special bonds with both my sons, but this is certainly the best one I share with my son Andrew. The first thing I do the morning of every November 30 (my birthday) is call him to wish him a happy feast day.

The saints are such an integral part of our lives. What connections can you make to the saints? Have you ever thought of beginning a tradition of wishing people a Happy Feast Day on their “name day” as it is called in the Greek tradition? A simple thinking of you card or email or text message to someone you care about on their feast day can mean a lot.

Dr. Laura Kolmar is Director of Pastoral Services at RENEW International, and has worked in parish social ministry, workshop and retreat leadership, and pastoral care and counseling.