The Fishing Saint

a meditation for Saint Andrew

Advent Begins this Sunday, December 3rd!

If you’re looking for a poetic, daily journey through Advent—steeped in both biblical truth and a passionate love for the natural world—I invite you to explore my devotional, Pilgrim God, now available on Amazon!

This daily Advent companion is $2.99 to purchase outright as an ebook, or Kindle Unlimited users can download and read for free.

I hope it blesses your Advent season!

---

Thank you for joining us!

Before we begin, I wanted to share a Comment Highlight from Monday’s discussion question:

I LOVED seeing all of your responses to how you observe the Advent season! Here is a lovely example from

Bridget Riley

of Naptime Novelist:

Advent is possibly my favorite part of the liturgical year, largely thanks to family traditions on my mom’s side - an Advent wreath, Jesse tree ornaments and stories, a slow trickle of Christmas decorations going up, culminating in the fully decorated tree on Christmas Eve. Now that I have my own little ones, it’s a joy to share these traditions with them as well. 🕯️

How beautiful, and I LOVE the passing-on of traditions through the generations!

Thank you so much for your reply, Bridget!

---

Photo by Burkhard Kaufhold on Unsplash

As the wife of a Scotland-born man, a celebration day that I’ve adopted close to my heart is St. Andrew’s Day, or Andermas. This patron saint of Scotland gives his name to the flag of Scotland and the St. Andrew’s Cross (a reference to the saltire cross upon which he was martyred, according to legend), and he is venerated today, on this final day of November.

Andrew was one of Jesus’ original disciples, the brother of Saint Peter, an apostle, and the gospels tell us that he was a fisherman, which is probably where much of his historical veneration comes from. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition he is referred to as the “First-Called”, for the way Christ invited him into discipleship early in His ministry.

Despite his association with Scotland, Saint Andrew in venerated in many, many countries; as with so many saints, there are lots of colorful stories and regional lore to draw from to observe this feast day. But for the following poem I was inspired by my favorite piece of Saint Andrew folklore, from elsewhere in Europe.

In Portugal, it is believed that on Saint Andrew’s feast day the saint will sit and fish for the souls of the drowned, pulling them up to the light and bringing them with him back to Heaven when his feast is over. I love the imagery of this more than I can express. And the Scottish fisherman in my own house—son of a fishing family on Scotland’s northeast coast—very much approves of this legend, too! :)

Blessed Andermas to all!

The Fishing Saint

look close!
see there, among the waves!

for the saint is fishing, 
his little boat riding the tides

searching. 

the stars twinkle above him
as his day dawns
autumn-fair
and autumn-cold

he leans, 
sleeves pulled up his arms
nets gathered near his feet

and he peers down
into the dark, 

finding. 

look close!
see, how he draws up the nets
and the pale souls

clinging,

draws them up into the dawn
of his day
and gathers them into his arms.

when night falls again
he will be gone

with armfuls of pale souls
like shining salmon
shad
and wide-eyed mackerel

gleaming.

---

Moved by this piece (or simply feel like supporting my coffee habit) and want to contribute a one-time donation? Click the Tip Jar button below!

For more writings like this, subscribe for free!