Today Georgia celebrates the Saint Andrew the First-Called Day. The special service will be held at 10:00 on Makhata Mountain, in the Iveria All-Holy Mother of God Icon Temple.

Saint Andrew is known as the “First Called” as he was the first of the twelve Apostles to be called by Jesus.

Originally a fisherman like his brother, St Peter, Andrew is credited with spreading the gospel to several regions in Eastern Europe such as Georgia, Greece, Romania and Russia.

According to the tradition of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Andrew arrived in the Ajara region, in the south-west of present-day Georgia, having been told to go to Georgia by the Virgin Mary. The church regards him as the first preacher of Christianity in the region and the founder of the Georgian church.

Since 2019, May 12th also marks the country’s consecration to the Virgin Mary.