Felix de Andreis, CM (December 12, 1778 – October 15, 1820) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

-born

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

missionary who served as the first provincial superior of the

Congregation of the Mission The Congregation of the Mission (), abbreviated CM and commonly called the Vincentians or Lazarists, is a Catholic Church, Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Vincent de Paul. It is associated with the Vin ...

(Vincentians) in the United States and as

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of Upper Louisiana, based in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. Andreis was born in northern Italy. His early theology teaching career was at the College of the Propaganda in Rome, a school that trained priests for mission work. Louis Dubourg recruited Andres to America in 1815, to work in the

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southe ...

. He arrived in St. Louis in 1817 and was granted enslaved

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

by Dubourg to assist with his work. Later appointed vicar general by Dubourg, Andreis also directed several educational and spiritual endeavors, including acting as spiritual director of

Rose Philippine Duchesne Rose Philippine Duchesne, RSCJ (; August 29, 1769 – November 18, 1852), was a French religious sister and educator whom Pope John Paul II canonized in 1988. A native of France, she immigrated as a missionary to America, and is recognized for h ...

. Theologians approved Andreis' spiritual writings on April 15, 1917, and the cause for his beatification was formally opened on July 25, 1918, granting him the title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

References

History of Catholicism in the United States American Servants of God Vincentians 1778 births 1820 deaths People from Demonte American slave owners {{US-reli-bio-stub