Today is Saint Andrew’s Day. I wasn’t raised Catholic or Orthodox, but I’ve had a certain fascination with iconography for a long time.
Saint Andrew depicted in a Greek icon.
Saint Andrew is significant to me mostly because my middle name comes from him. He’s also the patron of Scotland, one of my several ancestral homelands (Andrew’s X-shaped cross forms part of Scotland’s flag) the patron of fishermen, and sailors, among others.
Celebrating his day also allows one more observance in our ongoing Christmas season.
When my parents toured the Holy Land back in the ’70s, they brought back many gifts. The most precious, to me, is the metal tooled Greek Saint Andrew icon above, which now hangs on our bedroom wall. Come to think of it, this is the icon that got me interested in them in the first place.