Apostle Andrew – the first Ukrainian?

Exclusive. On November 30, almost the entire Christian world honors the memory of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called - the first Christian to visit the lands of the future Ukraine. For many, the feast of Andrew is most associated with traditional vespers, and such a revival and nurturing of folk customs is, of course, the right thing to do. But let's try to delve deeper into the essence of today's holiday and, first of all, focus on the figure of St. Andrew and its meaning for modern Ukrainians.

Already after His glorious Resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ instructed the apostles, commanding them to teach “all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew, 28; 19). So, the apostles, after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, were to disperse to different countries, preaching the teachings of Christ. Accordingly, each apostle had his own mission – for example, Peter – Rome, Thomas – India, and Andrew (among a number of other countries) – Scythia. That is, ancient Ukraine, the territory of the Northern Black Sea Region.

In Orthodox Christianity, it is generally accepted that each apostle, preaching within the framework of his mission, founded a Church, which is therefore still called apostolic. Accordingly, such a Church is autocephalous (i.e., “with its own head,” in Greek), and no other Church (or institution calling itself a church) can limit or eliminate such independence.

It is known from the holy tradition that in the 50s of the 1st century AD, Andrew the First-Called visited the Kiev Hills. On one of them he erected a cross, saying that at this place "God's grace shines forth, a great city will appear, and the Lord will enlighten this land with holy baptism.” That is, the holy apostle foretold the founding of Kyiv and the formation of a Christian state around it.

In connection with the prophecy of St. Andrew, some doubts arise regarding facts that are generally accepted. For example, that the founders of Kyiv – the brothers Kyi, Shchek and Khoryv and their sister Lybid – were pagans. But if this were really the case, then it is unlikely that the “Tale of Bygone Years” – a distinctly Christian work written by monks – would have paid so much attention to them, and in general – the founding of the modern capital of Ukraine would not have been attributed to someone else. Therefore, an assumption arises – whether Kyi and his relatives were Christians, but – probably – not Orthodox (Arians or Nestorians – there were many heresies in those days). Because if they were Orthodox, they would certainly have been canonized in later times.

Another question is – did Saint Andrew leave one of his disciples near the Kyiv Hills to organize the Church, without postponing this work for almost a thousand years? Because Andrew’s mission included preaching, and therefore there had to be listeners who would create the first community in the Dnieper region. And they gave rise to a city, or at least a village, where the lives of those whose fate, beliefs and thoughts were radically changed by the sermon of the holy apostle would be concentrated. However, history is silent about this…

And yet - the sermon of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called was of extraordinary importance for the future of the Ukrainian lands, including the modern Ukrainian state, because today's Ukrainian Churches - the OCU and the UGCC - are churches of the Kyivan tradition, communities of Andrew's consecration. And since the Code of Justinian is recognized in the Orthodox world, which determines, in particular, the relations of the Church with the state, Ukraine, as the largest state in Europe, is also apostolic, because St. Andrew himself determined its independence (therefore, any deprivation of independence of Rus'-Ukraine was not from God, it was not recognized at the sacred level).

Can Saint Andrew be considered the first Ukrainian? The question is quite rhetorical - about as much as the question of whether the Trypillians were the ancestors of Ukrainians. But if the Trypillians were not our blood relatives, then they and modern Ukrainians have a landscape affinity (after all, over the millennia, they have been united with us by life on the border of the forest and the steppe and the agricultural nature of their economy). And the Apostle Andrew is our forefather on a sacred level, having given the first impetus to the ethnogenesis of Ukrainians as a Christian nation.

And Saint Andrew did not go to the Moscow swamps...Moscow Delenda is!

Andriy Kurbsky, columnist Newsky.