Today the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates the Memorial Day of the Holy Apostles Andrew and Philip.
The holy apostle Andrew, the closest disciple of the holy prophet John the Baptist, was the first of the apostles to follow Messiah, and then he brought his brother the holy apostle Peter to him. From his youth, the future apostle, who was from Beit Tziida, turned to God with all his soul. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, Saint Andrew went to preach the word of God to the countries of the East. He passed through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia and reached the Danube. On his way, the first apostle suffered many sorrows and torments from the idolaters: he was expelled from cities and beaten. In Sinope he was stoned, but when he was unharmed, the faithful disciple of Christ preached to the people tirelessly about the Savior. Through the apostle's prayers, God performed miracles. Through the work of the holy apostle Andrew, Christian churches arose. The last city to which the first apostle arrived and where he was destined to die a martyr's death was the city of Patras.
A few hundred years later, under Emperor Constantine the Great, the remains of the Holy Apostle Andrew were solemnly transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles alongside the remains of the Evangelist Luke and the disciple of the Apostle Paul - the Apostle Timothy.
The holy apostle Philip was from the city of Beit Seida (the Galilee). He was a thorough scholar of the Holy Scriptures. After Shavuot, he preached the gospel in Galilee, and accompanied his preaching with miraculous miracles. Then he enlightened the eyes of the Jews in Greece and converted many to Christ. In the city of Hierapolis (Phrygia) there were many pagan temples, including a temple dedicated to snakes, where a huge echidna lived. Saint Philip, by the power of prayer, killed the echidna and healed many bitten by snakes. Among those healed was the wife of the ruler of the city, who later converted to Christianity. After learning about this, the ruler seized the apostles and crucified them. An earthquake began, and many pagans were buried in the ground. Saint Philip prayed for the salvation of his poor.