On January 19, 1980, the entire Holy Clergy and the people of Patras, under the leadership of the late Metropolitan Nikodemos of Patras, welcomed the grace-bearing X-shaped Cross of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The Cross, which had been in Marseille, France, since 1205, had been stolen from Patras and sent there by the Latin Bishop of Patras, Adelmos, who had at that time seized the episcopal throne, expelling the Orthodox hierarch.
According to the archives of the Duchy of Burgundy, the Cross was initially placed in the Abbey of Weaume in Marseille, and later transferred to the Abbey of Saint Victor in the same city. During the French Revolution there was an attempt to steal the Cross, which ultimately failed. Its pieces were preserved and placed in a reliquary in the shape of a regular Cross.
In 1979, the then Archepiscopal Vicar of the Holy Metropolis of France, the late Father Panagiotis Simigiatos, located the Cross at the Monastery of Saint Victor in Marseille.
On October 9, 1979, the then Metropolitan of Patras, Nikodemos, met in Marseille with the then president of the French hierarchy and of the entire Roman Catholic hierarchy of Western Europe, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, to discuss the matter of the return of the Cross to Patras.
After consultations between Roman Catholics and Orthodox, the Cardinal said to the Metropolitan of Patras: “Since the Cross was brought here from Patras, it belongs to Patras.”
Soon contacts and discussions between the two sides began regarding the return of the Cross to Patras. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece were informed of the matter.
On January 18, 1980, an aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force, carrying the delegation of the Holy Metropolis of Patras, departed for France for the reception and transfer of the Cross to Patras.
After their arrival in Marseille, the Cross was handed over to the Greek delegation through an “informal” ceremony.
The following day, January 19, the aircraft carrying the Cross and the two delegations—Orthodox and Roman Catholic—arrived at Araxos Airport, and the official reception then took place.
The Cross, transported in a wooden case, was initially placed in an iron case and embedded in the wall of the Church of the Apostle Andrew, behind the proskynitarion where the Honorable Head of the First-Called Apostle is kept and venerated.
Later, under the current Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras, the Cross was placed in a wooden case and covered with silver-gold plating, adorned with scenes from the life of the Apostle Andrew, and was placed in the northern aisle of the church, which was dedicated to the Cross of the Apostle Andrew and was decorated, like the rest of the church, with scenes from his life, miracles, and martyrdom.
Since the return of the Cross to Patras on January 19, 1980, every year on this same date the anniversary of the return is celebrated by the Metropolitan of Patras in the Metropolitan Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew.
The Wood of an Olive Tree
As for the type of wood of the Cross, there are differing accounts. Hippolytus of Rome mentions olive wood; Epiphanios speaks of a cross without specifying the wood; Arsenios of Kerkyra refers to a plant without identifying it; while the historian Stephanos Thomopoulos also speaks of an olive tree.
In studies that have been conducted, however, it has been proven that it is indeed olive wood and that it dates to the first century.
There are also differing views regarding the shape of the Cross. Frescoes and portable icons in churches depict the Apostle Andrew on the Cross with its two beams vertical, while others depict him on the Cross with his head downward.
Nevertheless, the prevailing view is that the Cross was in the shape of an “X.” This view is so widespread that crosses in the shape of an “X” are now commonly referred to as the “Cross of the Apostle Andrew.”
During its transfer to Patras in 1980, it was placed in a reliquary in the shape of a regular Cross, but this was later replaced by a larger and more imposing reliquary, this time in the shape of an X. Characteristic of the symbolic power of the Cross of Saint Andrew is the fact that the X, by its shape, is the symbol of the Russian Navy, which has the Apostle Andrew as its patron.
It should also be mentioned that in the summer of 2013 the Cross of Saint Andrew traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, where the scenes that unfolded were striking, owing to the long lines of faithful that had formed.
In 2025, in honor of the 45th anniversary of this celebration, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Patras issued the followed encyclical:
To
the Christ-named Plenitude
of the Sacred and Apostolic Metropolis of Patras
My blessed children,
Our local Apostolic Church has the special blessing from God, as is known to all, to possess as a source of blessing and sanctification—apart from the Holy Head of the Holy Apostle Andrew—the Cross of his martyrdom as well, which in January 1980 was returned to Patras from the city of Marseille in France, where for hundreds of years it had been kept, by judgments known only to God.
From the day when the people of Patras as a whole, with the Church, political, and other authorities at their head, welcomed the Cross of the First-Called of the Apostles, forty-five years have passed. Throughout all these years we have felt abundantly the blessing and the gift of our Lord through the intercessions of the Holy Apostle Andrew.
We invite you, also this year, with paternal love, to the splendid celebration which will take place in the New Holy Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew, where the Cross of our Saint is kept.
The program of the celebration is as follows:
Saturday, 18 January 2025
6:00 p.m.
Great Hierarchical Vespers
Sunday, 19 January 2025
7:00–10:30 a.m.
Matins – Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
My brethren,
We cannot imagine Patras without the presence of the Holy Apostle Andrew. He is our teacher and our enlightener. He is our father. He is our guardian and protector. He is the unceasing intercessor on our behalf before the Lord.
Saint Andrew is our joy, our pride, our hope, and our consolation. To him we flee at all times, in season and out of season, and we bend the knee of soul and body before his holy Head and his Cross. His holy icon is found in all our homes, and his most venerable figure holds a central place in our hearts.
Despite our sins—which often grieve God and distress our Saint—he does not abandon us, but holds us in his holy hands as his beloved children. His most beloved and most sacred name we give at baptism to many of our children. His Church is the emblem of our city. The place where he was martyred is our pilgrimage site, and there we lead all who visit our city—or who arrive there on their own—for the destination of most is the Churches of our Saint, the Old and the New, where his tomb is found and where his holy Head and his most venerable Cross are preserved.
Do not neglect, therefore, my brethren, on this occasion as well, to come to his Church in order to honor our Saint.
Do not forget or be negligent in directing your steps to his sacred Apostoleion during the two-day celebration, so that you may venerate the Cross on which he was martyred for the most sweet Name of the Lord who called him, and for our own salvation.
We await you at the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew on Saturday and Sunday, 18 and 19 January, so that we may celebrate together, glorifying the Name of our Lord and honoring our protector, the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
I embrace you with paternal love,
praying for every blessing from the Lord upon you all,
through the intercessions of the Holy Apostle Andrew.
To
the Christ-named Plenitude
of the Sacred and Apostolic Metropolis of Patras
My blessed children,
Our local Apostolic Church has the special blessing from God, as is known to all, to possess as a source of blessing and sanctification—apart from the Holy Head of the Holy Apostle Andrew—the Cross of his martyrdom as well, which in January 1980 was returned to Patras from the city of Marseille in France, where for hundreds of years it had been kept, by judgments known only to God.
From the day when the people of Patras as a whole, with the Church, political, and other authorities at their head, welcomed the Cross of the First-Called of the Apostles, forty-five years have passed. Throughout all these years we have felt abundantly the blessing and the gift of our Lord through the intercessions of the Holy Apostle Andrew.
We invite you, also this year, with paternal love, to the splendid celebration which will take place in the New Holy Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew, where the Cross of our Saint is kept.
The program of the celebration is as follows:
Saturday, 18 January 2025
6:00 p.m.
Great Hierarchical Vespers
Sunday, 19 January 2025
7:00–10:30 a.m.
Matins – Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
My brethren,
We cannot imagine Patras without the presence of the Holy Apostle Andrew. He is our teacher and our enlightener. He is our father. He is our guardian and protector. He is the unceasing intercessor on our behalf before the Lord.
Saint Andrew is our joy, our pride, our hope, and our consolation. To him we flee at all times, in season and out of season, and we bend the knee of soul and body before his holy Head and his Cross. His holy icon is found in all our homes, and his most venerable figure holds a central place in our hearts.
Despite our sins—which often grieve God and distress our Saint—he does not abandon us, but holds us in his holy hands as his beloved children. His most beloved and most sacred name we give at baptism to many of our children. His Church is the emblem of our city. The place where he was martyred is our pilgrimage site, and there we lead all who visit our city—or who arrive there on their own—for the destination of most is the Churches of our Saint, the Old and the New, where his tomb is found and where his holy Head and his most venerable Cross are preserved.
Do not neglect, therefore, my brethren, on this occasion as well, to come to his Church in order to honor our Saint.
Do not forget or be negligent in directing your steps to his sacred Apostoleion during the two-day celebration, so that you may venerate the Cross on which he was martyred for the most sweet Name of the Lord who called him, and for our own salvation.
We await you at the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew on Saturday and Sunday, 18 and 19 January, so that we may celebrate together, glorifying the Name of our Lord and honoring our protector, the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
I embrace you with paternal love,
praying for every blessing from the Lord upon you all,
through the intercessions of the Holy Apostle Andrew.
The Metropolitan
† of Patras Chrysostomos
† of Patras Chrysostomos
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
