Today, January 9, is the feast of Saint Andrew Corsini.
Carmelite bishop.
Andrew, born in 14th-century Florence in Italy, came from the noble and wealthy Corsini family. He was a wild and extravagant youth, engaging in different vices. It was something that shocked and saddened his mother, who was a devout Catholic.
Andrew’s parents scolded him for his scandalous behavior. He decided to mend his ways and went to the Santa Maria del Carmine Church to discern. His degenerate friends tried to talk him out of pursuing the religious life, telling Andrew that leading a life of excessive pleasure was more fun. In the end, Andrew decided to become a Carmelite friar.
When he became a Carmelite, Andrew led a life of great mortification. He became a priest. For his first Mass, he celebrated it in a hermitage because he wanted to avoid family parties.
Andrew was elected Provincial of Tuscany at the general chapter of Metz in 1348. A year later, Pope Clement VI appointed him Bishop of Fiesole in Central Italy. When he knew about this appointment, Andrew went into hiding. An account, possibly a legend, said that a mysterious child found Andrew in his hiding place and convinced him to accept the appointment.
As a result, he imposed greater austerities on himself, wearing a hair shirt and sleeping on vines and branches. He was loved for being a peacemaker and a social worker. A biographer wrote about him: “No poor person left his presence uncomforted. He often sat at the door of his residence and personally distributed bread to the needy.”
In 1373, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Andrew as he said Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. She told Andrew that he would die on the feast of the Three Kings. He got sick on Christmas and died on the said date in 1374 at age 70.
Andrew was beatified in 1440 by Pope Eugene IV. He was canonized in 1629 by Pope Urban VIII.