Andrew of Segni (1230–1302)

Biography

Blessed Andrew of Segni (1230-1302) He was born in Anagni, Italy, and from his profession as a Franciscan, Andrew obtained permission to go live in a grotto in the Apennines. The decision did not please his family too much, determined to diligently seek human honor. For example, as soon as he wore the tiara, his uncle Alexander IV tried to make him a cardinal. Andrew rejected the honor, and twenty-five years later, he did the same with his nephew Boniface VIII. Boniface, very edified, then wished to live long enough to raise his uncle to the altars, but it was not possible since both died at the same time. Andrew of Segni is counted among the wisest saints. It was necessary to be one to stand out at a time when Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Bonaventure and Blessed Duns Scotus occupied the first place on the philosophical and theological scene. There is a type of truth that is perhaps the most annoying for those who deny the supernatural and feel perplexed by the faith of great intelligences: Andrew, for example, believed in the existence of demons and the souls in purgatory. In his last years, his biographer says that Andrés “led a life that was more angelic than human.” Very often he fell into ecstasy, in that state in which the soul, without awareness of time and space, is as if taken to the bosom of God where it enjoys an ineffable joy.