Saint Andrew of Peschiera

After the death of his father, whose family affairs he had been left to manage despite his own wishes, he had to endure many indignities from his two brothers, to the point that he was sometimes forced to sleep outside the house because of their malice. But after having suffered everything with admirable patience, his pious mother, who took pity on her son's sad fate, gave him her blessing and consent, and he was able to withdraw to Brescia to embrace the religio us life , which had long been the object of his prayers.

On this occasion, a remarkable event occurred: his brothers having accompanied him to the city gate, at the moment of leaving them, after having humbly kissed their feet, he gave them his staff as a keepsake, which was almost all he had taken from his father's house; this staff having subsequently blossomed miraculously and performed wonders, the inhabitants of Peschiera held it in great honor.

In the D ominican family, he put on the new man, the perfect man. Sent to Florence t o pursue his studies, and received at the mon astery of San Marco whe re, through the care o f Blessed Anthony of Chiesa, the discipline of the rule was very flourishing, he raised his soul there to the pinnacle of all virtues. He gave himself above all entirely to obedience and he was accustomed to saying that the word *obedient* sounded to his ear like that of saint.

Having become fit for apostolic duties, he set out, by the order of his superiors, to go to southern Switzerland (Rhaetian society), with Brother Dominic of Pisa, whom Benigno de' Medici, a very pious man, had engaged to conduct missions in Valtellina and the neig hboring cantons, a province that Saint Dominic and the venerable Pagan of Como, inquisit or for the Catholic faith, had undertaken to purge of all the errors with which it was infected.

It is not easy to say with what ardor and zeal the young apostle set about clearing it, how many errors he uprooted, or how many strayed souls he brought back to the right path. There was not a hamlet so small, nor a hill so inaccessible, that he did not go there to win souls, preferring to lodge with the poor, sleeping on a bed of branches, feeding only on millet bread, and drinking only pure water. His authority among all classes of citizens soon became such that his mere presence was enough to calm the tumult of furious crowds, and that he brought the most stubborn heretics to submit to the Church gently and irresistibly through short discussions. All venerated in him the father of the poor, the apostle of Valtellina, and the envoy of God Himself.

To consolidate the faith for the future, to preserve good morals, he built churches, increased the number of parishes, and founded monasteries, among others that of Morbegno, of the Friars Pr eachers, which h e set up as a bulwark against the assaults of heresies and bad morals. After forty-five years of apostolate and a life brilliant with miracles attested by the monuments of the time, he could never be made to accept the high offices of his order; he was content with that of questor.

Finally, the man of God, after having accomplished incredible labors through the valleys and the mountains, in the midst of factories and ice, until the most extreme old age, was struck by a mortal illness. He announced the day of his death in advance, received the sacraments, and fell asleep peacefully in the Lord, amidst the tears of his brothers, in the year 1185, on January 18. His body, which exhaled a pleasant odor, was first buried in a very modest tomb, amidst a great gathering of people; but, subsequently, it was twice solemnly transferred and deposited in Morbegno, in the church of his order, where he is the object of great veneration.

On September 23, 1820, the Sovereign Pontif f Pius VII approved his cult, which had never been interrupted, and, upon consultation with th e Sacred Congregation of Rite s, granted permission to celebrate his office with Mass throughout the Order of Preachers and in the Diocese of Verona. Dominican Breviary.