Chapter 10
Good Monday Morning to this week 10 of 2022
St Andrew’s Church is an Orthodox church in Kyiv, constructed between 1747 and 1754. Situated on a steep hill, where Andrew the Apostle is believed to have foretold the great future of the place as the cradle of Christianity in the Slavic lands, the church overlooks the historic Podil neighborhood. The church was consecrated in honor of Andrew the Apostle who is recognized as the “Apostle of Rus\u2032. According to the chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years, Saint Andrew came to the Dnipro River’s slopes in the 1st century AD and erected a cross on the current location of the church. He prophesied that the sparsely inhabited area would become a great city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andrew the Apostle was born between 5 and 10 AD in Bethsaida, in Galilee. The New Testament states that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and likewise a son of Jonah. “The first striking characteristic of Andrew is his name: it is not Hebrew, as might have been expected, but Greek, indicative of a certain cultural openness in his family that cannot be ignored. Both he and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade, hence the tradition that Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them “fishers of men”. At the beginning of Jesus’ public life, they were said to have occupied the same house at Capernaum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Byzantine Church honours him with the name\u00a0Protokletos<\/em>, which means “the first called”. In the gospels, Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus.\u00a0Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and fishes,and when\u00a0Philip\u00a0wanted to tell Jesus about certain Greeks seeking Him, he told Andrew first.\u00a0Andrew was present at the\u00a0Last Supper. Andrew was one of the four disciples who came to Jesus on the\u00a0Mount of Olives\u00a0to ask about the signs of\u00a0Jesus return\u00a0at the “end of the age”. Chapter 10 Good Monday Morning to this week 10 of 2022 St Andrew’s Church is an Orthodox church in Kyiv, constructed between 1747 and 1754. Situated on a steep hill, where Andrew the Apostle is believed to have foretold the great future of the place as the cradle of Christianity in the Slavic lands, the … <\/p>\n
The\u00a0Chronicle <\/a>of <\/a>Nestor\u00a0adds that he preached along the\u00a0Black <\/a>Sea\u00a0and the\u00a0Dnieper\u00a0river as far as\u00a0Kiev, and from there he travelled to\u00a0Novgorod. This is how , he became a saint in the Ukraine and other nations around. The Primary Chronicle reports that, in the year 986, Vladimir met with representatives from several religions. The result is amusingly described in the following apocryphal anecdote. Upon the meeting with Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga, Vladimir found their religion unsuitable due to its requirement to circumcise and taboos against alcoholic beverages and pork; supposedly, Vladimir said on that occasion: “Drinking is the joy of the Rus.” He also consulted with Jewish envoys (who may or may not have been Khazars), questioned them about Judaism but ultimately rejected it, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence of their having been abandoned by God.
Returning to Kiev in triumph, Vladimir exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnieper river for baptism. This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of the state of Kievan Rus’. At first, Vladimir baptized his twelve sons and many boyars. He destroyed the wooden statues of Slavic pagan gods (which he had himself raised just eight years earlier). Then Vladimir sent a message to all residents of Kiev, “rich, and poor, and beggars, and slaves”, to come to the river on the following day, lest they risk becoming the “prince’s enemies”. Large numbers of people came; some even brought infants with them. They were sent into the water while priests prayed. To remember the event, Vladimir built the first stone church of Kievan Rus’, called the Church of the Tithes.
Though we know more about his brother Peter, it was Andrew who first met Jesus.\u00a0At least three times Andrew is shown as\u00a0one who introduced others to Jesus<\/strong>. First he introduced his borther Simon to Jesus second, he introduced a small boy to Jesus and third, he introduced a delegation of foreigners to Jesus. Andrew showed a global outlook by ushering many to meet Jesus. Andrew realized that the good news of Jesus was for the every man, woman, and child from every tribe and nation around the world. He wanted to be first, not for himself, but for the sake of others meeting the one he follows.
Praying for many “Andrews” in this time great distress, pain, death and war. Praying for many to be Andrew, to have the desire to be first for the sake of others!
Wishing a blessed, protected and safe start to this week.
Philemon
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