Born in Murcia in Spain in 1532, Andrew was of noble parents, whom family reverses had reduced to a state of poverty. He entered the Order of St. Francis as a lay brother and led a life known only to God. He was assiduous in prayer and yet worked with an untiring enthusiasm, habitually taking on the work of others when he had finished his own. He slept little, and devoted the rest of the night to contemplation, in which he frequently experienced ecstasy while praying before the image of Mary Immaculate, the Holy Eucharist or while meditating on the Passion. Although only a simple friar, he had the joy of converting a great number of Moors to the Christian faith. He gave up his soul in 1602, while he was saying his rosary.