Andrés Huberto Fournet (1752–1834)

Biography

When he was a child he was extremely restless and mischievous and only his mother tolerated him. But this woman set out to make him a good man and trained him in generosity and all the virtues. Upon beginning his philosophy studies in Poitiers, France, he lost what little fervor he had and dedicated himself to a totally mundane life. Without consulting anyone in his family, he joined the military, then wanted to work as a public employee, without achieving it. It was then that they recommended that he visit a priest uncle for a few days who had a reputation as a saint. There Andrew came to a complete change in his behavior and way of thinking and dedicated himself to ecclesiastical studies and prayer. He was ordained a priest and helped his uncle in his parish. But he liked to preach with very elegant words that no one understood. One day he forgot the whole sermon and his uncle advised him to stop wanting to show off and preach with simple words to the hearts of the people, and so he began to do so. When he was parish priest, he dedicated himself to living in the greatest possible luxury and inviting his most distinguished parishioners to dinner. One day the Lord, in the person of a beggar, made him see that this was not to his liking, and once again Andrés listened and dedicated himself to caring more for the poor and living soberly. During the French Revolution he had to flee to Spain, but then he returned to his beloved parish of Maillé and dedicated himself to rekindling the fervor of his parishioners by preaching missions and dedicating many hours to confessions. Everyone loved him. He founded the community of the Sisters of the Holy Cross and until his death was the spiritual director of that community. The life of Saint Andrew is an example of how, even if one has many limitations and errors, if he is docile to grace, the Lord will guide him along paths of holiness.