ANDREA AVELLINO, saint. — Born in 1521 at Castronuovo (now Castronuovo di S. Andrea, in the province of Potenza), to a noble local family; died in Naples on 10 November 1608. At baptism he received the name Lancellotto, which he bore until his entrance among the Theatines. He was educated by an uncle who was an archpriest and then at the schools of the nearby town of Senise. In 1537 he took ecclesiastical dress and in 1545, in his native town, became a priest. In 1547 he went to Naples to undertake the study of law. Under the direction of the Jesuit Giacomo Lainez, in 1548 he made the spiritual exercises. From this moment dates his «conversion», in which there also played a part, as is reported, the remorse he felt over the slight lie that had escaped him during a debate (he was a lawyer in the ecclesiastical court).
Around 1551, Scipione Rebiba, vicar general of the archdiocese, entrusted him with the reform of the convent of S. Arcangelo di Baiano, and in this office, which lasted several years, he demonstrated the measure of his apostolic zeal, for which he also exposed himself to mortal threats. The target of two attacks, in 1556 he was struck in the face by two terrible wounds, whose author he never wished to denounce. Received into the Theatine house of S. Paolo Maggiore in Naples, he recovered almost miraculously. In 1556 he donned the novice’s habit, having as his master the blessed Giovanni Marinoni (1490-1562); in 1558 he made his solemn profession. Elected superior of S. Paolo Maggiore in 1567, he established schools of philosophy and theology there. In 1570 the general chapter sent him to Milan as vicar of the house of S. Maria presso S. Calimero, donated to the congregation by s. Carlo Borromeo (with whom A. had frequent dealings and received signs of esteem and affection). In 1571 the same general chapter assigned him to S. Vincenzo di Piacenza. The local bishop, the blessed Paolo Burali, also called him to direct the diocesan seminary, established according to the recent norms of the Council of Trent, and to govern a convent of penitential women. In Piacenza, where he also held the office of diocesan penitentiary, he remained until 1578, while three times serving as visitor of the Theatine houses of Lombardy. During this period, having felt the impulse to withdraw from active life and from the ministry of confessor, he was dissuaded from doing so by the venerable Battistina Vernazza, the Genoese cloistered mystic. In 1578 he assumed the government of the house of S. Antonio in Milan and, in 1581, once again that of the house at Piacenza. In 1582 the general chapter sent him to Naples, where in 1584 he was placed in charge of the two houses of S. Paolo Maggiore and of the SS. Apostoli. In this city, after a bloody riot provoked by famine (May 1585), he came to the aid of the people’s needs and ordered a solemn penitential procession. In 1590 he carried out the visitation of the Neapolitan and Roman provinces of the Congregation. During this period, in Rome, he refused the episcopate offered to him by Gregorio XIII.
Having reached an advanced age, while continuing diligently in all his offices, including that of spiritual direction, to which he had always devoted himself — among his penitents were men and women of high rank and souls of intense religious life, such as the four Palescandalo sisters — he once again gave proof of his heroic generosity by forgiving, and inducing his relatives to forgive, the murderer of his nephew Francesco Antonio Avellino (1593). On 10 November 1608, while beginning the celebration of Mass, he was struck by apoplexy and died that same evening, at the age of 87. A learned man, well versed in theological studies, he left approximately 3,000 letters of spiritual direction, some of which are now lost (the collection published in Naples in 1731-32, in 2 volumes, contains slightly more than a thousand) and various works, especially biblical expositions and discourses (published in Naples, 1733-34, in 5 volumes). A., who appears as one of the most capable and active architects of the Catholic Reformation in Italy, was beatified in 1624 by Urban VIII and canonized in 1712 by Clement XI. His feast is celebrated on 10 November.