From the Prologue of Ochrid
Andrew was the son of Jonah and brother of Peter, from Bethsaida, and a fisherman by occupation. At first he was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist, but when Saint John pointed with his finger to the Lord Jesus, saying: *Behold the Lamb of God! * (John 1:36), then Saint Andrew left his first teacher and followed Jesus. After that Andrew brought his brother Peter to the Lord. After the descent of the Holy Spirit it fell to the lot of this first apostle of Christ, Saint Andrew, to preach the Gospel in Byzantium and Thrace, then in the Danube lands, then in Russia and around the Black Sea, and finally in Epirus, Greece, and the Peloponnese, where he also suffered. In Byzantium he appointed the first bishop in the person of Saint Stachys; in Kiev he erected a cross on the heights and prophesied a brilliant Christian future for the Russian people; throughout Thrace, Epirus, Greece, and the Peloponnese he converted multitudes to the faith and appointed bishops and priests for them. In the city of Patras he worked many miracles by the name of Christ and won many for the Lord, among whom were the brother and wife of the imperial governor Aegeates. Aegeates, enraged because of this, put holy Andrew to tortures and then crucified him on a cross. As long as he was alive on the cross, the apostle of Christ spoke profitable instructions to the Christians who had gathered around his cross. The people wanted to take him down from the cross, but he opposed this. Finally the Apostle began to pray to God, and at that moment a certain extraordinary light illumined him completely. This luminous illumination lasted half an hour, and when it disappeared the Apostle gave up his holy soul to God. Thus reposed his earthly age the First-Called Apostle, who first of the twelve great apostles came to know the Lord and followed Him. Saint Andrew suffered for his Lord in 62. His relics were transferred to Constantinople. Later his head was transferred to Rome, and one hand to Moscow.
