Background
Andrew James Felix Bartholomew de Andreis was born on December 12, 1778 in Demonte, Piedmont, Italy, the oldest son of Maurice de Andreis, a registrar of deeds in the town of Demonte.
Andrew James Felix Bartholomew de Andreis was born on December 12, 1778 in Demonte, Piedmont, Italy, the oldest son of Maurice de Andreis, a registrar of deeds in the town of Demonte.
He completed his college course, taken partly at home and partly at Cuneo.
He began his term of novitiate at Mondovi on November 1, 1797, was ordained priest in December 1801 and brilliantly completing his theological studies in Alberoni College in the summer of 1802.
In 1802 he was appointed professor in that institution. But his state of health necessitating a change to a milder climate, he was, in February 1806, transferred to Monte Citorio, the central house of the congregation in Rome. Here, in addition to his duties as professor of dogmatic theology to his young confrères and to the students of the College of the Propaganda, he conducted missions in the little towns of the neighboring dioceses and to the herdsmen of the Roman Campagna.
His reputation as a scholar and a preacher soon reached higher authorities. Pope Pius VII was quoted as saying, "Keep an eye on this young man: for the likes of him are those who ought to be promoted to bishoprics. " This remark alarmed de Andreis and no doubt fanned to new flame the embers never grown cold of former yearnings for the foreign missions. Only in 1815 were his hopes to be fulfilled.
In the first days of September the administrator-apostolic of the diocese of Louisiana, the Very Rev. Louis William Valentin Du Bourg arrived in Rome. Happening to hear Father de Andreis address a gathering of men, he sought an interview which ended to the satisfaction of both; de Andreis agreed to follow the American prelate, if his superiors consented. The latter, however, tenaciously resisted Du Bourg's entreaties, until the Pope, to whom the prelate appealed, positively declared it his will that the missionary should go to Louisiana.
On December 15, with three companions, he started by stage for Bordeaux, which he reached, after a fatiguing journey over the Alps, on January 30, 1816. After a long delay, on June 12 the whole company, composed of thirteen persons, boarded the Ranger, bound for Baltimore, where she arrived on July 26.
Seven weeks the missionaries waited at St. Mary's Seminary; finally, on September 10, they set out by stage on the trying journey to Pittsburgh, whence a flatboat took them to Louisville. At Bishop Flaget's suggestion, they determined to wait at St. Thomas's Seminary, Bardstown, Kentucky, until Du Bourg's arrival. There for nearly a year de Andreis found congenial employment in teaching theology, meantime pursuing the study of English and doing mission work among the neighboring Catholic congregations.
On receiving intelligence of Du Bourg's landing at Annapolis with a numerous company, Flaget and de Andreis set out for Upper Louisiana. de Andreis was left in charge of the parish of St. Genevieve, Missouri. Du Bourg arrived at St. Genevieve on December 30, 1817, and, accompanied by de Andreis, whom he had appointed his vicar-general before sailing for France, made, on January 5, 1818, his entry into St. Louis. de Andreis became the rector of the cathedral, at the same time taking care of the theological training of the clerics who taught in the college established by Bishop Du Bourg, and for a while directing the novitiate of the Congregation inaugurated at the episcopal residence.
For nearly three years, despite his very precarious health, he labored untiringly, ever hoping for the day when he could bring the gospel to the Indians of Missouri, whose language meanwhile he learned; until, on October 15, 1820, he died of "putrid bilious" (probably typhoid) fever. Short as had been his sojourn in Missouri, his virtues left there an impression which, as it seemed confirmed by remarkable signs, led the ecclesiastical authorities to take steps toward the public recognition of his holiness which have been sanctioned by Rome, Pope Benedict XV issuing (June 25, 1918) a decree formally introducing his cause of beatification.
Andreis was professor and administrator of two colleges, one for seminarians and one for laymen, and supervised the erection of a novitiate at the Barrens. During his lifetime he gained a reputation for sanctity, and several miracles were attributed to his intercession after his death. He was the founding superior of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentians, in the United States.
Andreis was endowed intellectually far above the average.
Andreis never married.
