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Saint Andrew
Feast Day
November
30
We might all turn to St Andrew
for intercession on behalf of our prodigal Catholics. When we examine what we
know of him, we find someone who knows what it is like to suddenly discover
Jesus is Lord. We who pray for prodigals would do well to pray what is
often referred to as the "St Andrew Novena" because it begins on his feast day.
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Who Was
St. Andrew?
In the
first chapter of the Gospel according to John, it says that Andrew was a
fisherman, and the brother of Peter. When Jesus invited Andrew to "Follow
me" and to "Come and See.," Andrew left what he was doing and followed, only
to return for his brother with the news that he had found the anointed one.
Andrew was martyred on a
cross resembling an “X”. In the fourth century some of his bones were taken
to Scotland. Tradition tells that during a major battle, a saltire, or
x-shaped cross appeared in the sky. This became the Scottish national flag
- a white-on-blue saltire (a diagonal cross on a colored background). It is
derived from the shape of the cross on which
Scotland's patron saint,
St Andrew, was
crucified. |
Prayer To St. Andrew
Let us pray, St. Andrew intercede for
our loved ones that Jesus might open their ears to hear His Voice, open
their hearts to recognize the truth, and give them grace to follow the path
back to the Sacraments. Amen.
"St Andrew Novena"
Begins on the Feast of St Andrew and is prayed from
Nov 30 to Christmas Eve
Prayer to ObtainFavors
Hail and
blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most
pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour,
vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the
merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
(It is traditionally believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen
times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (30th November) until Christmas
will obtain what is asked.)
Imprimatur
+Michael Augustine, Archbishop of New York
New York, February 6, 1897
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