Frontier Missionary. Felix De Andreis, C.M
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Frontier Missionary. Felix De Andreis, C.M. Vincentian Studies Institute Monographs 3. Frontier Missionary. Felix De Andreis, CM. 1778-1820 Correspondence and Historical Writings By John E. Rybolt, CM. Vincentian Studies Institute Chicago, Illinois 2005 Edited 1Jy: Nathaniel Michaud (c) 2005 All Rights Reserved Vincentian Studies Institute 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface II Introduction 13 Bibliography 19 List of Illustrations and Maps 29 Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 1918 30 I. CORRESPONDENCE Before 1816 I. From Fran~ois Brunet, between 180I and 1803 39 2. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 29 July 1812 40 3. Preface to Norme edAvvisi, 1814 (?) 45 4. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 6 July 1814 47 5. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 15 May 1815 49 6. Agreement with Bartolomeo Colucci, 8 October 1815 53 7. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 29 December 1815 55 1816 8. To Giovanni Maurizio De Andreis, 4 January 1816 57 9. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, I February 1816 59 10. To Dominique Fran~ois Hanon, 10 February 1816 63 II. To Carlo Saverio De Petris, 12 February 1816 65 12. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 18 March 1816 69 13. From Louis William Dubourg, 24 April 1816 72 14. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 28 May 1816 77 15. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 5 June 1816 84 16. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 28 July 1816 86 17. From Archbishop Leonard Neale, 29 July 1816 89 18. To Fran~oise Victoire Fournier, August 1816 90 19. Journal of the Voyage, 14 August 1816 91 20. To Bartolomeo Colucci, 26 August 1816 93 21. To Vincenzo De Andreis, 3 September 1816 101 22. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 22 September 1816 105 23. To Fran~oise Victoire Fournier, 27 September 1816 III 24. To Joseph Harent, 27 September 1816 112 25. To Simon Brute, 5 October 1816 115 26. From Simon Brute, 15 October 1816 118 27. To N., 20 (?) November 1816 121 28(a). To Peter Dahmen, 29 November 1816 124 28(b). To Peter Dahmen from Francis Xavier Dahmen 129 29. To Fran~oise Victoire Fournier, 2 December 1816 132 8 1817 30. To Simon Brute, January 1817 134 31. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 5 January 1817 135 32. To Simon Brute, 23 April 1817 145 33. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 20 May 1817 149 34. To Simone Ugo, 20 May 1817 155 35. To Simon Brute, 1 July 1817 159 36. To Archbishop Ambrose Marechal, 8 July 1817 165 37. To Fran90ise Victoire Fournier, 20 July 1817 166 38(a). To Paolino Martorelli, 24 August 1817 170 38(b). Memorial on the Diocese ofBardstowu, 1817 173 39. Retreat Resolutions, September 1817 176 1818 40. Report for Louis William Dubourg, 1818 179 41. To Joseph Rosati, 8 January 1818 181 42. To Joseph Rosati, 13 February 1818 184 43. To Carlo Domenico Sicardi, 24 February 1818 186 44. To Joseph Rosati, 26 February 1818. 194 45. To Joseph Rosati, 2 March 1818 196 46. To Joseph Rosati, 2 April 1818 198 47. To Joseph Rosati, 20 April 1818 203 48. To Bartolomeo Colucci, 27 April 1818 207 49. To Stephen Theodore Badin, May 1818 214 50. To Joseph Rosati, 17 June 1818 215 51. To Joseph Rosati, 26 June 1818 220 52. To Joseph Rosati, 11 July 1818 224 53. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 3 September 1818 227 54. To Joseph Rosati, 18 November 1818 234 55. To Joseph Rosati, 23 November 1818 235 56. To Joseph Rosati, 4 December 1818 237 57. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 7 December 1818 242 1819 58. To Joseph Rosati, 9 January 1819 250 59. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 4 February 1819 252 60. Lenten Regulations, 1819 263 61. To Giovanni Craveri (?), 8 February 1819 266 62. To Bartolomeo Colucci, 9 February 1819 269 63. To Joseph Rosati, 17 March 1819 273 64. To Joseph Rosati, 27 March 1819 274 65. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 26 April 1819 278 9 66. To the Meeting at Monte Citorio, 21 Jnne 1819 284 67. From Andrew Ferrari, July 1819 289 68. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 7 July 1819 292 69. From Joseph Bigeschi, 3 September 1819 297 70(a). To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 23 September 1819 300 70(b). Drawing and Description ofthe House at the Barrens 307 71. From Fran~oise Victoire Fournier, 24 November 1819 308 72. To Carlo Saverio De Petris, 28 December 1819 310 1820 73. To Joseph Rosati (?), January 1820 321 74. To Vincenzo De Andreis, I January 1820 322 75. To Filippo Giriodi, 2 January 1820 325 76. Giuseppe Giordana, I February 1820 331 77. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 4 February 1820 336 78. From Joseph Tichitoli, 13 February 1820 353 79. To Francis Xavier Dahmen and Andrew Ferrari, 27 March 1820 356 80. To Fran~oise Victoire Fournier, 4 April 1820 359 81. To Saint Philippine Duchesne, 26 June 1820 360 82. To Joseph Rosati, July 1820 361 83. To Octavie Berthold, I September 1820 362 84. To Francesco Antonio Baccari, 4 September 1820 364 85. To Joseph Rosati from Leo De Neckere, 7 October 1820 368 86. To Francesco Antonio Baccari (?) from Bishop Dubourg, 19 October 1820 370 87(a). To Vincenzo DeAndreis from Joseph Rosati, 15 November 1820 372 87(b). To the Priests ofthe Diocese ofLouisiana from Charles De Lacroix, undated 378 87(c). Obituary, 18 November 1820 380 11. HISTORICAL WR1T1NGS Important Notices, 1815-1820 384 Itinerary. Italy, France, America, [December] 1819 425 APPENDICES I. DeAndreis, the Mission Preacher, 1806-1815 458 II. Chronology ofFelix De Andreis 483 III. BriefBiographies 489 INDEX 493 About the Author 505 10 11 PREFACE Cardinal Newman wrote somewhere that we are all links in the great chain ofprovidence. He wrote, further, that we may never know exactly what providence expects of us but we can be sure that we will accomplish it if we are only faithful. Each of us is the beneficiary of the fidelity of those who have gone before us; our hope is that we will be as great a benefit to those who follow us. In these pages you will gain insight into the life ofa man who was faithful, whom many in his own time called a "saint." The life of Reverend Felix De Andreis, C.M., is particularly pertinent to citizens of the Midwest, to Catholics in the many Midwestern dioceses, and to theVincentian Fathers and Brothers, becausefor all oftheseindividuals hewas a part oftheirbeginnings. He, along with manyothers, certainly helped to create who and what we are today. The Archdiocese of St. Louis, in particular, owes him a great debt of gratitude. In reading the letters of De Andreis you will encounter a human being - not unlike ourselves - meeting the challenges to be holy and to be strong in the face ofsome extraordinarily difficult circumstances, not unlike our own. You will meet a man who was a friend to others, BishopJoseph Rosati and SaintRose Philippine Duchesnebeingamong them. You will read of his longing for a home that he left for the sake ofbringing the gospel to an alien land. You will read of his own deep commitment to holiness and of his commitment to the ideals ofSaint Vincent de Paul, the founder of his religious community. My hope is that, in the pages of this book, you will find a teacher - a man who can help each of us see what we can be for others, what fidelity to Jesus Christ looks like, and the ways in which our lives can be gifts to the people of tomorrow. 27 May 2002 Justin Rigali Archbishop of Philadelphia (Former Archbishop of Saint Louis) 12 13 INTRODUCTION Rose Philippine Duchesne, herselfa canonized saint, called him a saint;! and Benedict Joseph Haget, bishop of Bardstown, wondered whether he should pray for his soul or pray to him as a saint.' Even the Roman Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith offered its sympathy at his death and invited Bishop Dubourg to open a formal process for beatification if there are "certa quaedam illius sanctitatis indicia" ["some specific indications of his holiness"].' The object of their veneration was Andrew James Felix Bartholomew De Andreis, born and baptized on 12 December 1778, in Demonte, a small town of Savoy, now a part of Italy. He was the founding superior of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentians, in the United States. Honored during his life for his piety and knowledge, De Andreis continued to receive recognition after his death in Saint Louis, Missouri, 15 October 1820. He remains largely unknown outside American Vincentian circles, yet his cause for beatification, and ultimately canonization, was introduced in Rome. The decree from the Holy See announcing this decision spells out the details of his life, and this collection of his correspondence and historical writings attempts to remedy ignorance about his work. It sheds light as well on his remarkable character and holy life, and presents a view of the Church in the nascent Midwestern United States.' After moving to America, De Andreis spent three years in Saint Louis supervising and guiding the first American Vincentians until his death. In his time Saint Louis was a city built along the banks of the Mississippi River. A town of some 3000 persons, Saint Louis had four north-south streets, and about 18 east-west streets. The people lived mostly in rough wooden dwellings, although their wealthier ] For example, in her letters to Mother Barat, L. 70, 1 December 1819, and to Mother Deshayes, L. 82, 29 August 1820, in Chantal Paisant, ed., Les annees pionnieres Paris: Cerl, 2001, 289, 321. 2 Flaget mentioned his "simplicity, piety, fervor" in a letter of condolence to Rosati, from Bardstown, 6 November 1820; in SLAA, Flaget papers.