Venerable Felix de Andreis CM
Felix de Andreis was born at Demonte, in Piemonte, Italy on December 13, 1778. Very little is known about his early youth, however, he was quoted in saying "I see very clearly, when I collect my thoughts, that Divine Bounty began to call me to the sweet intercourse of contemplation from my very childhood; and, afterwards, at different intervals, during the whole course of my most ungrateful life. I remember, and, even now, can very distinctly picture to myself the unspeakable delight which I once felt when a child, while listening to one of my aunts, on my mother's side, who was singing some hymns on the love of God and the infancy of Mary, as we walked one evening in the gardens of Count Beranger." He had the disposition to live a contemplative and cloistered life, but was urged and called to the active life as a missionary.
After studies his studies in Cuneo, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Mission, at Mondovì on November 1, 1797 and was ordained priest at Piacenzia on August 14, 1801. When only four years a priest, he conducted the retreats for those about to be ordained. His constitution was not robust and in 1806 he was sent to Monte Citorio, the house of the Congregation in Rome that seemed least likely to be affected by the rigorous religions persecutions of the time, which for while drove Pope Pius VII from Rome. Here, Fr de Andreis was constantly engaged from 1810 to 1815 in giving missions and retreats for the clergy or seminarians. He also gave many missions in the suburbs of the city. When the religious houses in Rome were suppressed, the Propaganda students attended his lectures on theology. It was no unusual thing for him to preach four times a day on different subjects. In view of later events, it is worthy of reflection that Fr de Andreis received such a conviction that he was destined to a mission involving the need of English that he resolutely mastered that language.
In 1815, Bishop duBourg, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana (which then extended along both sides of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Lakes) arrived in Rome to secure priests for that immense vineyard. As soon as he knew of Fr de Andreis, he applied to Fr Sicardi, his superior, to let him go to Louisiana, and when the latter declared it impossible, as his place could not be filled, he exposed the situation to Pope Pius VII, who appointed the young priest to this mission. In the company with five others, Fr de Andreis embarked from France on June 12, 1816 and reached Baltimore on July 26, 1816. They remained there at St Mary's Seminary as guests of Fr Bruté until September 3 and then started on a tedious journey to the west, arriving at Louisville, November 19, where at Bishop Flaget's suggestion they remained in his seminary of St Thomas at Bardstown until Bishop duBourg should arrive. Fr de Andreis taught theology and laboured at improving his English. In 1817, he wrote that he felt strongly impelled to devote himself to their education and conversion to Christ. He hoped to prepare a catechism in the language of the "Indiana beyond the Mississippi River". Bishop duBourg finally reached there with thirty priests on December 29, 1817 and they went to St Louis in the Spring of 1818. During this same year, he helped to construct the log chapel on the hilltop in South St Louis and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Land was donated for a Vincentian Seminary and was given the name Saint Mary's of the Barrens, a colony south of St Louis, in Perry County MO. Fr de Andreis, was the first Superior of the Vincentians in the United States. He was also the First Vicar-General of St Louis MO (Upper Louisiana). During this time, he was also the Parish Priest of the St Louis Cathedral. While he was Director of the Seminary, he was also the Master of Novices for his Vincentian Community. He carried out all his duties extremely well, although sometimes he was not physically well himself. With all his talents, his most outstanding virtue, cited those who knew him well, was his humility, a foundation for all virtues.
He was sometimes homesick for Italy. He said it was like thinking of paradise. He wrote to others that if it were not for the glory of God and the salvation of the people in St Louis and its surrounding area, he would want to be at home.
But like St Francis Xavier, who never reached China, or St Vincent de Paul, who never reached Madagascar, God called him home before he reached the tribes beyond the Mississippi and along the Missouri Rivers. He died, after a short life of forty-two years, on October 15, 1820 and is buried in the Church of Saint Marys of the Barrens, Perryville MO.
Not only was he dedicated to his work for the faith with those who had come from Europe, but he also wished to become a missionary to the indigenous tribes in America. Greatly esteemed for sanctity, the process of his canonization was begun in 1900 and was declared Venerable by Rome.
Felix de Andreis was born at Demonte, in Piemonte, Italy on December 13, 1778. Very little is known about his early youth, however, he was quoted in saying "I see very clearly, when I collect my thoughts, that Divine Bounty began to call me to the sweet intercourse of contemplation from my very childhood; and, afterwards, at different intervals, during the whole course of my most ungrateful life. I remember, and, even now, can very distinctly picture to myself the unspeakable delight which I once felt when a child, while listening to one of my aunts, on my mother's side, who was singing some hymns on the love of God and the infancy of Mary, as we walked one evening in the gardens of Count Beranger." He had the disposition to live a contemplative and cloistered life, but was urged and called to the active life as a missionary.
After studies his studies in Cuneo, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Mission, at Mondovì on November 1, 1797 and was ordained priest at Piacenzia on August 14, 1801. When only four years a priest, he conducted the retreats for those about to be ordained. His constitution was not robust and in 1806 he was sent to Monte Citorio, the house of the Congregation in Rome that seemed least likely to be affected by the rigorous religions persecutions of the time, which for while drove Pope Pius VII from Rome. Here, Fr de Andreis was constantly engaged from 1810 to 1815 in giving missions and retreats for the clergy or seminarians. He also gave many missions in the suburbs of the city. When the religious houses in Rome were suppressed, the Propaganda students attended his lectures on theology. It was no unusual thing for him to preach four times a day on different subjects. In view of later events, it is worthy of reflection that Fr de Andreis received such a conviction that he was destined to a mission involving the need of English that he resolutely mastered that language.
In 1815, Bishop duBourg, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana (which then extended along both sides of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Lakes) arrived in Rome to secure priests for that immense vineyard. As soon as he knew of Fr de Andreis, he applied to Fr Sicardi, his superior, to let him go to Louisiana, and when the latter declared it impossible, as his place could not be filled, he exposed the situation to Pope Pius VII, who appointed the young priest to this mission. In the company with five others, Fr de Andreis embarked from France on June 12, 1816 and reached Baltimore on July 26, 1816. They remained there at St Mary's Seminary as guests of Fr Bruté until September 3 and then started on a tedious journey to the west, arriving at Louisville, November 19, where at Bishop Flaget's suggestion they remained in his seminary of St Thomas at Bardstown until Bishop duBourg should arrive. Fr de Andreis taught theology and laboured at improving his English. In 1817, he wrote that he felt strongly impelled to devote himself to their education and conversion to Christ. He hoped to prepare a catechism in the language of the "Indiana beyond the Mississippi River". Bishop duBourg finally reached there with thirty priests on December 29, 1817 and they went to St Louis in the Spring of 1818. During this same year, he helped to construct the log chapel on the hilltop in South St Louis and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Land was donated for a Vincentian Seminary and was given the name Saint Mary's of the Barrens, a colony south of St Louis, in Perry County MO. Fr de Andreis, was the first Superior of the Vincentians in the United States. He was also the First Vicar-General of St Louis MO (Upper Louisiana). During this time, he was also the Parish Priest of the St Louis Cathedral. While he was Director of the Seminary, he was also the Master of Novices for his Vincentian Community. He carried out all his duties extremely well, although sometimes he was not physically well himself. With all his talents, his most outstanding virtue, cited those who knew him well, was his humility, a foundation for all virtues.
He was sometimes homesick for Italy. He said it was like thinking of paradise. He wrote to others that if it were not for the glory of God and the salvation of the people in St Louis and its surrounding area, he would want to be at home.
But like St Francis Xavier, who never reached China, or St Vincent de Paul, who never reached Madagascar, God called him home before he reached the tribes beyond the Mississippi and along the Missouri Rivers. He died, after a short life of forty-two years, on October 15, 1820 and is buried in the Church of Saint Marys of the Barrens, Perryville MO.
Not only was he dedicated to his work for the faith with those who had come from Europe, but he also wished to become a missionary to the indigenous tribes in America. Greatly esteemed for sanctity, the process of his canonization was begun in 1900 and was declared Venerable by Rome.
Venerable Felix de Andreis CM
Felix de Andreis was born at Demonte, in Piemonte, Italy on December 13, 1778. Very little is known about his early youth, however, he was quoted in saying "I see very clearly, when I collect my thoughts, that Divine Bounty began to call me to the sweet intercourse of contemplation from my very childhood; and, afterwards, at different intervals, during the whole course of my most ungrateful life. I remember, and, even now, can very distinctly picture to myself the unspeakable delight which I once felt when a child, while listening to one of my aunts, on my mother's side, who was singing some hymns on the love of God and the infancy of Mary, as we walked one evening in the gardens of Count Beranger." He had the disposition to live a contemplative and cloistered life, but was urged and called to the active life as a missionary.
After studies his studies in Cuneo, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Mission, at Mondovì on November 1, 1797 and was ordained priest at Piacenzia on August 14, 1801. When only four years a priest, he conducted the retreats for those about to be ordained. His constitution was not robust and in 1806 he was sent to Monte Citorio, the house of the Congregation in Rome that seemed least likely to be affected by the rigorous religions persecutions of the time, which for while drove Pope Pius VII from Rome. Here, Fr de Andreis was constantly engaged from 1810 to 1815 in giving missions and retreats for the clergy or seminarians. He also gave many missions in the suburbs of the city. When the religious houses in Rome were suppressed, the Propaganda students attended his lectures on theology. It was no unusual thing for him to preach four times a day on different subjects. In view of later events, it is worthy of reflection that Fr de Andreis received such a conviction that he was destined to a mission involving the need of English that he resolutely mastered that language.
In 1815, Bishop duBourg, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana (which then extended along both sides of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Lakes) arrived in Rome to secure priests for that immense vineyard. As soon as he knew of Fr de Andreis, he applied to Fr Sicardi, his superior, to let him go to Louisiana, and when the latter declared it impossible, as his place could not be filled, he exposed the situation to Pope Pius VII, who appointed the young priest to this mission. In the company with five others, Fr de Andreis embarked from France on June 12, 1816 and reached Baltimore on July 26, 1816. They remained there at St Mary's Seminary as guests of Fr Bruté until September 3 and then started on a tedious journey to the west, arriving at Louisville, November 19, where at Bishop Flaget's suggestion they remained in his seminary of St Thomas at Bardstown until Bishop duBourg should arrive. Fr de Andreis taught theology and laboured at improving his English. In 1817, he wrote that he felt strongly impelled to devote himself to their education and conversion to Christ. He hoped to prepare a catechism in the language of the "Indiana beyond the Mississippi River". Bishop duBourg finally reached there with thirty priests on December 29, 1817 and they went to St Louis in the Spring of 1818. During this same year, he helped to construct the log chapel on the hilltop in South St Louis and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Land was donated for a Vincentian Seminary and was given the name Saint Mary's of the Barrens, a colony south of St Louis, in Perry County MO. Fr de Andreis, was the first Superior of the Vincentians in the United States. He was also the First Vicar-General of St Louis MO (Upper Louisiana). During this time, he was also the Parish Priest of the St Louis Cathedral. While he was Director of the Seminary, he was also the Master of Novices for his Vincentian Community. He carried out all his duties extremely well, although sometimes he was not physically well himself. With all his talents, his most outstanding virtue, cited those who knew him well, was his humility, a foundation for all virtues.
He was sometimes homesick for Italy. He said it was like thinking of paradise. He wrote to others that if it were not for the glory of God and the salvation of the people in St Louis and its surrounding area, he would want to be at home.
But like St Francis Xavier, who never reached China, or St Vincent de Paul, who never reached Madagascar, God called him home before he reached the tribes beyond the Mississippi and along the Missouri Rivers. He died, after a short life of forty-two years, on October 15, 1820 and is buried in the Church of Saint Marys of the Barrens, Perryville MO.
Not only was he dedicated to his work for the faith with those who had come from Europe, but he also wished to become a missionary to the indigenous tribes in America. Greatly esteemed for sanctity, the process of his canonization was begun in 1900 and was declared Venerable by Rome.
Felix de Andreis was born at Demonte, in Piemonte, Italy on December 13, 1778. Very little is known about his early youth, however, he was quoted in saying "I see very clearly, when I collect my thoughts, that Divine Bounty began to call me to the sweet intercourse of contemplation from my very childhood; and, afterwards, at different intervals, during the whole course of my most ungrateful life. I remember, and, even now, can very distinctly picture to myself the unspeakable delight which I once felt when a child, while listening to one of my aunts, on my mother's side, who was singing some hymns on the love of God and the infancy of Mary, as we walked one evening in the gardens of Count Beranger." He had the disposition to live a contemplative and cloistered life, but was urged and called to the active life as a missionary.
After studies his studies in Cuneo, he entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Mission, at Mondovì on November 1, 1797 and was ordained priest at Piacenzia on August 14, 1801. When only four years a priest, he conducted the retreats for those about to be ordained. His constitution was not robust and in 1806 he was sent to Monte Citorio, the house of the Congregation in Rome that seemed least likely to be affected by the rigorous religions persecutions of the time, which for while drove Pope Pius VII from Rome. Here, Fr de Andreis was constantly engaged from 1810 to 1815 in giving missions and retreats for the clergy or seminarians. He also gave many missions in the suburbs of the city. When the religious houses in Rome were suppressed, the Propaganda students attended his lectures on theology. It was no unusual thing for him to preach four times a day on different subjects. In view of later events, it is worthy of reflection that Fr de Andreis received such a conviction that he was destined to a mission involving the need of English that he resolutely mastered that language.
In 1815, Bishop duBourg, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Louisiana (which then extended along both sides of the Mississippi from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Lakes) arrived in Rome to secure priests for that immense vineyard. As soon as he knew of Fr de Andreis, he applied to Fr Sicardi, his superior, to let him go to Louisiana, and when the latter declared it impossible, as his place could not be filled, he exposed the situation to Pope Pius VII, who appointed the young priest to this mission. In the company with five others, Fr de Andreis embarked from France on June 12, 1816 and reached Baltimore on July 26, 1816. They remained there at St Mary's Seminary as guests of Fr Bruté until September 3 and then started on a tedious journey to the west, arriving at Louisville, November 19, where at Bishop Flaget's suggestion they remained in his seminary of St Thomas at Bardstown until Bishop duBourg should arrive. Fr de Andreis taught theology and laboured at improving his English. In 1817, he wrote that he felt strongly impelled to devote himself to their education and conversion to Christ. He hoped to prepare a catechism in the language of the "Indiana beyond the Mississippi River". Bishop duBourg finally reached there with thirty priests on December 29, 1817 and they went to St Louis in the Spring of 1818. During this same year, he helped to construct the log chapel on the hilltop in South St Louis and dedicated it to Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
Land was donated for a Vincentian Seminary and was given the name Saint Mary's of the Barrens, a colony south of St Louis, in Perry County MO. Fr de Andreis, was the first Superior of the Vincentians in the United States. He was also the First Vicar-General of St Louis MO (Upper Louisiana). During this time, he was also the Parish Priest of the St Louis Cathedral. While he was Director of the Seminary, he was also the Master of Novices for his Vincentian Community. He carried out all his duties extremely well, although sometimes he was not physically well himself. With all his talents, his most outstanding virtue, cited those who knew him well, was his humility, a foundation for all virtues.
He was sometimes homesick for Italy. He said it was like thinking of paradise. He wrote to others that if it were not for the glory of God and the salvation of the people in St Louis and its surrounding area, he would want to be at home.
But like St Francis Xavier, who never reached China, or St Vincent de Paul, who never reached Madagascar, God called him home before he reached the tribes beyond the Mississippi and along the Missouri Rivers. He died, after a short life of forty-two years, on October 15, 1820 and is buried in the Church of Saint Marys of the Barrens, Perryville MO.
Not only was he dedicated to his work for the faith with those who had come from Europe, but he also wished to become a missionary to the indigenous tribes in America. Greatly esteemed for sanctity, the process of his canonization was begun in 1900 and was declared Venerable by Rome.
