The Feast of St. Andrew/ The Christmas Novena

St. Andrew:
* Original trade was as a fisherman
* First an apostle of St. John the Baptist
* Then  the first of the twelve Apostles of Our Lord and Saviour
* Brother of St. Peter
* Preached in Scythia (including parts of Russia) and Greece
* Tied to a cross, in legend X-shaped, and crucified in Patras near Greece
* Preached for two days as he hung on the cross dying
* Chief relics preserved at the Basilica of St. Andrew in Patras, Greece
* More complete bio of St. Andrew here
* Patron saint of:  Scotland, Ukraine, Russia, Sicily, Greece, Cyprus, Romania, Diocese of Parañaque, Philippines, Amalfi, Luqa (Malta) and Prussia; Diocese of Victoria fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, golfers and performers

* ALSO, today, on the feast of St. Andrew, we begin the Christmas Novena. All fifteen repetitions of the prayer may be said all together at any time each day for the next twenty-five days -- ending on Christmas Eve. When we're able, though, we say it five times in the morning, five times midday and five times in the evening.  It's a wonderful tool for recollection during Advent! And, heaven knows, there is much to pray for.   Again, here's how it goes: 

Blessed be the hour and the moment

In which the Son of God was born

Of the most pure and blessed Virgin Mary

At midnight
In Bethlehem
In the piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God,
To hear my prayers and grant my petitions,
Through the merits of Jesus Christ,
Our Lord and Redeemer.  Amen