Bienheureux André
Prêtre de l'Ordre des Ermites de Saint Augustin (+1479)
Né vers 1403 dans une humble famille
il entre à 14 ans au monastère des Augustins de Montereale, étudie la théologie
à Rimini puis à Padoue et Ferrare. En 1453, puis en 1471, il est élu provincial
de l'Ombrie. Il passe les dernières années de sa vie dans le couvent de
Montereale. Culte approuvé par Clément XIII en 1764.
À Monte Reale dans les Abruzzes, en 1479, le bienheureux André, prêtre de l'Ordre des Ermites de Saint-Augustin, qui se dépensa à prêcher en Italie et en France.
Martyrologe romain
Immagine di Andrea da Montereale in
un'opera di Hajnal
Blessed Andrew of Montereale
Also
known as
- Andrea
Profile
Joined the Augustinians at age 14 in Montereale, Italy. Priest. Travelling preacher in Italy and France, known for his learning
and personal holiness. Studied theology in Rimini, Padua, Ferrara and Siena in Italy. Reformed Augustinian monasteries in Umbria, Italy. Chosen Augustinian provincial
in 1453 and 1471. In his later years he
retired to the Augustinian monastery at Montereale.
Born
- c.1403 in Mascioni, Campotosto, Italy
- 18 April 1479 at the Augustinian monastery of Montereale, Italy of natural causes
- interred in the
Augustianian Friars Church in Montereale
Blessed Andrew
of Montereale
April 18
Andrew of
Montereale (1397?-1480) had a reputation as a holy man and worker of miracles.
Born around
1397 in Mascioni, Italy, he is believed to have worked as a shepherd from his
childhood.
As a young
man he met the Prior (local superior) of the the Augustinian Monastery of
Montereale, one Augustine of Terni. Not long after this meeting, Andrew entered
the Order of Saint Augustine. He was ordained a Priest when he was 25 years
old. He earned Bachelor's, Lector's and Master's Degrees in Theology and became
a teacher.
He held
various positions of leadership in the Order, including Prior Provincial
(regional superior) and Prior (local superior).
For unknown
reasons that may have had something to do with the Avignon Schism, he resigned
in 1459 his position as Director of Studies. Two years later he was sent away
from his monastery by order of the Prior General. In 1461 that same Prior
General appointed Andrew his representative for an official visitation of the
monastery in Amatrice. In 1471 he was again
elected Prior Provincial.
Documents
published shortly after his death refer to Andrew as noteworthy for his
knowledge of philosophy and theology, for his holiness and his preaching, for
helping the poor and for enduring abuse with great patience. Other documents
make reference to his having worked countless miracles.
Andrew wrote
several books, all of which have been lost.
He died April 17, 1480 in the
Augustinian Monastery in Montereale.
Blessed Andrew of Montreale
Blessed
Andrew is a personage still very much alive among the people of the Abruzzi
because of his holy life and his reputation for miracles which God has worked
through his intercession.
The
birthplace of Blessed Andrew is certain: Mascioni, on the shores of Lake
Campotosto; no less certain is the place of his death: the Augustinian
monastery in Montereale, a short distance from Mascioni, to which the Blessed
retired a few years before his death. He lived to the age of 83, and his
earthly sojourn ended on 17 April 1480.
The sad
events of the Avignon Schism had negative effects on the Church and the
Augustinian Order well beyond 1417, the year in which Martin V was elected to
the supreme pontificate. The quest for unity in the Order, which had been split
by the schism, and the path of reform were the most urgent concerns of the
general chapters and the priors general of the time. Those same events were
inevitably echoed in the first part of Blessed Andrew’s life. According to
tradition, he had from childhood worked as a shepherd. A meeting with
Augustinian Father Augustine of Terni, prior of the monastery in Montereale,
decided Andrew’s entrance into that same monastery and the beginning of his
novitiate. He was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-five, and then, in
light of his bent for studies, was destined for teaching. To that end he
acquired the various academic degrees of bachelor, reader, and master of
theology while attending the general house of studies of the Order in Rimini
and in Siena; he appears as director of studies in the latter place in 1459.
During these
same years, enjoying as he did the trust of his superiors and fellow religious,
he held offices in government. He was vicar general and visitator of some
monasteries; he was elected prior provincial of the Province of the Valley of
Spoleto and in that capacity took part in the general chapters of Avignon in
1455 and Pamiers (France) in 1465.
In 1459, for
reasons we do not know, he resigned from the priorate and his position as
director of studies in Siena, and in 1461, by order of the prior general,
Father William Becchi, a Florentine, he was sent away from the monastery of
Norcia, along with the local prior, Father Jerome of Cittaducale. This was “at
the request of various religious of the province, in order to avoid scandal and
begin the reform of that monastery.”
In 1468, when
William Becchi was still the prior general, he appointed Blessed Andrew as his
vicar for visiting the monastary of Amatrice. In 1471, Andrew was again elected
prior provincial of the Province of the Valley of Spoleto.
Thus far we have the cold facts of his “external” life as a religious. Other
sources help us to know more about his interior life.
A few months
after the Blessed’s death, his contemporary, Ambrose of Cori, who had been
provincial of the Roman Province and was now prior general of the Order
(1476-1482) listed 36 Blessed of the Order, in the Chronicle of the Order which
he published in 1481. At the time when Blessed Andrew had been expelled from
the monastery of Norcia, Ambrose was director of studies in Perugia and
therefore knew Andrew personally. In the 36th place in his list he put Blessed
Andrew of Montereale, “who lived in our time and is made glorious by many signs
and miracles. He was very learned in canon law, philosophy, and theology, and
showed the greatest example of holiness in preaching, helping the poor, and
enduring abuse, and in every kind of patience.”
In a few
words Ambrose exalts Blessed Andrew well above even fervent religious, tells us
of his reputation for miracles and of his teaching, and calls him Blessed,
thereby, in all likelihood, expressing the sentiments of the people.
In the epitaph engraved beneath the image of the Blessed on the wall of the
choir in the church of Saint Augustine in Montereale—an epitaph that is now
gone but was cited by Riccitelli in 1581, and went back to the end of the
fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century—people could read the following:
Here lies the body of Blessed Andrew of the Order of Hermits of Saint
Augustine, who worked countless great miracles. Due to his holiness of life,
the austerity of his ways, and his Catholic teaching, due also to his honeyed
preaching and great miracles, he was famous throughout Italy and France.
He is dear to God and humanity and is an honor to the Order, an
adornment of his native land, and of great advantage to his neighbor. He was
and is a great benefit to the world, having preached the word of God for fifty
years. He was born in 1480 and died at the age of eighty-three.
His works
have not come down to us. At that time an inventory of goods had to be made by
Masters of Theology. A copy of the one which the Blessed compiled on the day of
his death has survived, and in it there is a list of the books he had loaned
out. Among these was the Decretals, a Gloss on the subject, and a “little
book,” a term suggesting a work of his own. The other objects listed give a
glimpse of the simplicity of his life, for among them are “a little brass jar,
four table forks, a little bell, and some other little things.”
Among the
many writers who have spoken of him, mention may be made of Blessed Alonso de
Orozco, who, in his Chronicle of the Glorious Saint Augustine, Father and
Doctor of the Church (1551), lists Andrew among the blessed and describes him
as “a very gifted man and a great preacher; very patient and charitable; he
performed many miracles.”
Although
Andrew had the reputation of being a saint, it was only in the years 1756-1757,
during the pontificate of Benedict XIV, that the cause of his beatification was
taken up by the diocese of Rieti, of which Montereale was a part. During the
process witnesses bore unanimous testimony to Andrew’s commitment to the struggle
against schism and heresy, his exercise of the preaching office over several
decades, his journeys to France, and the role he played at the court of the
King of France, where he was the queen’s confessor and spiritual director. They
also attested that his name was Antonio Artesi.
His memory is
celebrated by the Augustinian Family on 18 April.
Beato Andrea da Montereale
Mascioni (L'Aquila), 1402/04 - Montereale, 18 aprile 1479
Nato a Mascioni (L'Aquila) da una
modesta famiglia intorno al 1403, a quattordici anni entrò nel vicino monastero
degli agostiniani di Montereale. Nel 1431 fu studente di teologia a Rimini, e
negli anni successivi a Padova e Ferrara, ottenendo prima i gradi scolastici di
lettore e baccelliere e poi quello di maestro in sacra teologia. Nel 1453 e nel
1471 fu eletto provinciale dell'Umbria. In più occasioni il generale
dell'Ordine lo nominò suo vicario per ristabilire l'osservanza nei conventi di
Norcia, di Amatrice e di Cerreto di Spoleto. Superate alcune incomprensioni e
ingiuste accuse che lo spinsero a lasciare gli incarichi il beato Andrea nel
1471 fu eletto di nuovo provinciale. Trascorse gli ultimi anni della sua
vita nel convento di Montereale, dove morì nell'aprile del 1479 e dove, nella
chiesa che fu dell'Ordine, si venerano le sue spoglie mortali. Il suo culto fu
approvato da Clemente XIII l'11 maggio 1764. (Avvenire)
Martirologio Romano: A
Montereale in Abruzzo, beato Andrea, sacerdote dell’Ordine degli Eremiti di
Sant’Agostino, che si dedicò alla predicazione in Italia e in Francia.
Nato a Mascioni (L'Aquila) da una modesta famiglia intorno al 1402/04, a
quattordici anni entrò nel vicino monastero degli agostiniani di Montereale.
Nel 1431 fu studente di teologia a Rimini, e negli anni successivi a Padova e
Ferrara, ottenendo i gradi scolastici di lettore e baccelliere. Nel 1438 fu
inviato in studio et universitate Senensi per spiegare i libri delle Senteme, e
in seguito gli fu concesso il titolo di maestro in sacra teologia.
Nel 1453 e nel 1471 fu eletto provinciale dell'Umbria. Unitamente ai suoi
impegni di governo e d'insegnamento dovette svolgere altri delicati compiti,
giacché per la sua comprovata rettitudine in più occasioni il Padre Generale
dell’Ordine lo nominò suo vicario per ristabilire l’osservanza nei conventi di
Norcia, di Amatrice e di Cerreto di Spoleto. L'esercizio
di questo incarico di riformatore gli cagionò non poche sofferenze e
incomprensioni.
Essendo priore e reggente dello studio di Siena, rinunziò ai due uffici
probabilmente a causa delle accuse che alcuni religiosi inviarono a Roma contro
di lui. Ignoriamo il risultato della verifica che seguì, ma ci è pervenuto il giudizio
del Padre Generale Massari da Cori, Preside nel 1463 dello Studio di Perugia,
il quale scrisse che Andrea sopportando le ingiustizie e mostrando sempre
pazienza “maximum ostendit exemplum sanctitatis”. I fatti posteriori confermano
questo elogio giacché, nel 1471 fu eletto di nuovo Provinciale e mantenne la
stima e la fiducia dei superiori maggiori dell'Ordine, che continuarono a
servirsi di lui per promuovere la regolare osservanza.
Trascorse gli ultimi anni della sua vita nel convento di Montereale, dove morì
nell’aprile del 1479 e dove, nella chiesa che fu dell'Ordine, si venerano le
sue spoglie mortali. Tra le festività locali legate alla sua memoria spicca
tuttora quella celebrata il 13 di settembre, giorno in cui nel 1691 elevò la
destra dalla tomba a protezione del paese dal terremoto.
Il suo culto fu approvato da Clemente XIII l’ 11 maggio 1764.
La sua memoria liturgica ricorre il 18 aprile.
Autore: P. Bruno Silvestrini O.S.A.
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90143
Beato ANDREA DA MONTEREALE
(1397 - 1479)
Nato a Mascioni
(L'Aquila) da una modesta famiglia intorno alla fine del Trecento, forse nel
1397. A quattordici anni entrò nel vicino monastero degli agostiniani di
Montereale. Nel 1431 appare come studente di teologia a Rimini, e negli anni
successivi a Padova e Ferrara, ottenendo i gradi scolastici di lettore e
baccelliere. Nel 1438 fu inviato in studio et universitate Senensi per spiegare
i libri delle Sentenze, e in seguito gli fu concesso il titolo di maestro in
sacra teologia. Nel 1453 fu eletto provinciale dell'Umbria, carica conferitagli
ancora nel 1471. Unitamente ai suoi impegni di governo e d'insegnamento dovette
svolgere altri delicati compiti, giacché per la sua comprovata rettitudine in
più occasioni il P. Generale dell'Ordine lo nominò suo vicario per ristabilire
l'osservanza nei conventi di Norcia, di Amatrice e di Cerreto di Spoleto. L'esercizio
di questo incarico di riformatore gli cagionò non poche sofferenze e
incomprensioni.
Essendo priore e reggente dello studio di Siena rinunziò ai due uffici
probabilmente a causa delle accuse che alcuni religiosi inviarono a Roma contro
di lui. Ignoriamo il risultato della verifica che seguì, ma ci è pervenuto il
giudizio del P. Generale Massari da Cori, preside nel 1463 dello Studio di
Perugia, il quale scrisse che Andrea "sopportando le ingiustizie e
mostrando sempre pazienza maximum ostendit exemplum sanctitatis". I fatti
posteriori confermano questo elogio giacché, come già detto, nel 1471 fu eletto
di nuovo provinciale e mantenne la stima e la fiducia dei superiori maggiori
dell'Ordine, che continuarono a servirsi di lui per promuovere la regolare
osservanza.
Trascorse gli ultimi anni della sua
vita nel convento di Montereale, dove mori nell' aprile del 1479. E Il, nella
chiesa che fu dell'Ordine, si venerano le sue spoglia mortali. Tra le festività
locali legate alla sua memoria spicca tuttora quella celebrata il 13 di
settembre, giorno in cui nel 1691 elevò la destra dalla tomba a protezione del
paese dal terremoto. Il suo culto fu approvato da Clemente XIII l'11 maggio
1764.
Acta SS. Aprilis II (Venezia 1738) 612-16 (riporta la "Vita" del
Riccetelli del 1581); COTTA, G. B:, OSA., Vita prodigiosa del b. A. da M.
(Perugia 1776; 2a ed. Napoli 1824); LOPEZ, S. - RODRIGUEZ, M., OSA., De Beato
Andrea a Monteregali, OESA. Notae et documenta, Città del Vaticano 1937
(estratto da AA. 16, 113-131); TOMASSINI, M., OSA., Il pastorello di Mascioni:
il B. A. da M., Roma 1952; TRINCHIERI, R., L'Ordine di S. Agostino nell'Abruzzo
Aquilano, Roma 1954 (estratto dal Bull. della Dep. Abruzzese di Storia patria
3-5, 1941-43, 120, 165, 178-200); GUTIÉRREZ 1/2 132-133 (it. 205-207);
CASTELLANI, C., lnsediamenti agostiniani nel reatino, in AA. 47 (1984) 249-261;
STELLA \/., Un pastorello alla corte del re. Beato A. da M., Montereale - L'Aquila 1990; Beato A. da M., 1397-1479. VI
centenario della nascita, L'Aquila 1997.
Voir aussi : https://catholicreadings.org/catholic-quotes/blessed-andrew-of-montereale-saint-of-the-day-april-12-or-april-18/
