St. Andrew Avellino

St. Andrew Avellino (1521 – 10 November 1608) was born Lancellotto Avellino at Castronuovo in southern Italy and first pursued a career in canon law, working as an ecclesiastical lawyer. A moment of conscience — when he caught himself telling a small lie in defense of a client — turned him decisively from the law to a life wholly given to God, and he joined the Theatine Clerks Regular, taking the name Andrew.

He became a noted reformer of religious houses, superior of Theatine communities in Naples and beyond, and a tireless preacher, confessor, and spiritual director, laboring for the renewal of clergy and the salvation of souls in the spirit of the Catholic Reformation. St. Charles Borromeo sought his help in reforming the Church in Milan. He died in 1608, stricken while beginning to celebrate Mass, and was canonized in 1712; because of the manner of his death he is invoked as a patron against sudden and unprovided death and against apoplexy.