Andrew Avellino
Sicilian Theatine priest and saint
Feast: 10 November (1962 Missal, III class) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
Lancelotto Avellino was born in 1521 at Castronuovo in Sicily. He studied in Venice and at Naples, where he became a doctor of laws, was ordained at 26 and worked as a lawyer in the Church courts. One day a lie slipped out in the heat of argument; reading soon after that 'the mouth that lies kills the soul', he gave up the law.
Sent by the archbishop to reform a lax convent, he was attacked and badly wounded by men whose visits he had stopped. Recovering among the Theatines, he joined them, taking the name Andrew out of love for the cross. He died at 88 on 10 November 1608.
The miracles
He is patron of Naples and Sicily, and is invoked against sudden death. The miracles examined for his causes are not described in the sources we have used.
Why that counted as sanctity
Andrew Avellino gave up a career over a single lie and spent the rest of his long life in the service of truth and reform.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Andrew Avellino
- Wikidata Q495892 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Andrew Avellino (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.