André Bessette


André Bessette, C.S.C., more commonly known as Brother André, and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous oil healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph.
Bessette was declared venerable in 1978 and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1982. Pope Benedict XVI approved the decree of sainthood for Blessed André on 19 February 2010, with the formal canonization taking place on 17 October 2010. He is the first Canadian living after Confederation to be canonized.

Early life

He was born Alfred Bessette in Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Canada East, a small town situated southeast of Montreal. Bessette was the eighth of 12 children, four of whom died in infancy. At birth, he was so frail that the curé baptized him "conditionally" in an emergency ritual the following day. The family was working-class; his father, Isaac Bessette, was a carpenter and lumberman, and his mother, Clothilde Foisy Bessette, saw to the education of her children. In 1849, with employment scarce and his family living in poverty, Alfred's father moved to Farnham, Quebec to work as a lumberman, but soon perished tragically crushed by a falling tree. Alfred was nine years old, and his mother, at 40, remained with ten children in her care. Clothilde died of tuberculosis within three years, and Alfred became orphaned at the age of twelve. Alfred moved to Moosup, Connecticut at the age of 18, joining many of his relatives working in textile mills in eastern Connecticut, and returned to Canada four years later.

Call to devotion

The pastor of his parish, the Rev. André Provençal, noticed the devotion and generosity of the young man. He decided to present Alfred to the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal, writing a note to the superior, "I'm sending you a saint." Although he was initially rejected by the order because of frail health, Archbishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal intervened on his behalf, and in 1872, Alfred was accepted, and entered the novitiate of the congregation, receiving the religious name of Brother André, by which he was known for the rest of his life. He made his final vows on February 2, 1874, at the age of 28.
André was given the task of porter at Collège Notre-Dame in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. "When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years," he said.
His great confidence in Saint Joseph inspired him to recommend the saint's devotion to all those who were afflicted. On his many visits to the sick in their homes, he would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel and recommend them in prayer to Saint Joseph. People claimed that they had been cured through the prayers of the good Brother and Saint Joseph, and they were grateful their prayers had been heard. Brother André steadfastly refused to take any credit for these cures. Bessette's desire to see Saint Joseph honoured led him in 1904 to launch a campaign to build a chapel for that purpose.
When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. "I do not cure," he said again and again. "Saint Joseph cures." In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the 80,000 letters he received each year.
As tensions increased at the College with so many of the sick coming to see the porter, the school officials decided that Brother André could no longer continue with his ministry. He was permitted to receive the sick in the nearby tramway station rather than the College. As his reputation spread, Brother André became quite a controversial figure. There were many religious in the Congregation of Holy Cross, teachers and parents of students at the College who supported him but many others opposed him and even considered him dangerous to the well-being of the school's reputation because they regarded him as a charlatan. Others were concerned for the good health of the children, fearing the possibility of contagion in the school spread from diseases carried by the sick who frequented Brother André.
In 1924 construction of a basilica named Saint Joseph's Oratory began on the side of the mountain, near Bessette's chapel.

Death and path to canonization

Bessette died in 1937, at the age of 91. A million people filed past his coffin.
The remains of Bessette lie in the church he helped build. His body lies in a tomb built below the Oratory's Main Chapel, except for his heart, which is preserved in a reliquary in the same Oratory. The heart was stolen in March 1973, but was recovered in December 1974 with the help of famous criminal lawyer Frank Shoofey.
Brother André was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982. The miracle cited in support of his beatification was the healing in 1958 of Giuseppe Carlo Audino, who suffered from cancer.
St. Andre is commemorated in most of the world by an optional memorial on January 6. His memorial is celebrated in Canada on January 7.
On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a decree recognizing a second miracle at Blessed André's intercession, and on October 17, 2010, formally declared sainthood for him. Blessed Brother André was the first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the same religious order that founded the University of Notre Dame.

Legacy

Andre Hall houses the School of Humanities at St. Edward's University, a Holy Cross school, in Austin, Texas.
A Catholic high school in Markham, Ontario, St. Brother André Catholic High School, is named in his honour.
There is a high school built on Fanshawe Park Rd in northwest London, Ontario Canada called Saint Andre Bessette Secondary School.
A program to support student learning at Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, Illinois, is named after Saint Andre. Students in the program are known as St. Andre Scholars.
There is an elementary school, Brother André Catholic School, in Beacon Heights, Ontario, Canada. Another elementary school in Brampton, Ontario is called St. Andre Bessette.
The French Catholic mission in York Region - North of Toronto - is named "Mission Catholique St-Frère-André". Services are held at the region's only French Catholic High School: ÉSC Renaissance.
A Roman Catholic church named St. Andre Bessette will be opening soon in Vaughan, Ontario. It is now under construction.
St. Andre Bessette Parish is located in Laconia, New Hampshire; a small New England city with strong French Canadian Heritage.
St. André Bessette Catholic Church is a bilingual church located in Ecorse, Michigan.
St André Bessette Catholic Church is located in Downtown Portland, Oregon. Its former name was Downtown Chapel.
St André Bessette Catholic Church is a church located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
There is a Catholic high school called St. Andre Bessette Catholic High School in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, serving students in grades 9-12.
André House is a ministry to the homeless and poor populations of the Phoenix area.

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