Page 16 - Michael Journal 2020 March

Joseph which had been blessed there. They decid- menace of Communism. On March 19, 1937 — the
ed to make a novena. For nine days, all the Sisters Feast of Saint Joseph — the Holy Pontiff published
and students received Holy Communion and prayed Divini Redemptoris, an encyclical letter condemning
to the foster-father of Jesus, applying the medal to Communism. As if in gratitude for his own recov-
the child’s eye. There was no progress at all during ery and with great confidence in the mighty Patri-
the course of the novena, but they remained confi- arch, towards the end of the encylical Pius wrote, “...
dent. On the ninth day, after everyone had received We place the vast campaign of the Church against
Holy Communion, the child opened her eye to see world Communism under the standard of Saint Jo-
the chapel’s statue of Saint Joseph. Before the cure, seph, her mighty Protector.”
the seriousness and permanence of the damage had Like Our Blessed Lord on the Cross, his faithful
been verified in writing by two competent ophthal- imitator spoke many words of piety and holy resig-
mologists. Later, these two declared that the eye was nation to God’s will during his final agony: “My God
perfectly cured, with no trace of injury. Neither could how I suffer... Heaven is so beautiful that it is worth
explain the cure.
all the trouble with which one prepares for it... How
Though Brother Andre was given the grace to good God is... How beautiful... How powerful...
heal others, he was constantly sick himself. He suf- Mary, Sweet mother, mother of my sweet Savior, be
fered from stomach illness all of his life. As a result, merciful to me and help me... Saint Joseph...”
he could eat little more than a mixture of flour and The name of his holy patron was the last intelli-
watered-down milk, or sometimes bread soaked in gible word issued from the holy lips of Blessed Andre.
the same. To him, these sufferings were an oppor-
tunity for reaching greater sanctity. As we shall see, Immortality
his final sickness provided him with many such op- So Brother Andre died as he had lived, suffering
portunities. When asked if he was in great pain, he heroically, praying fervently, and even working great
said, “Indeed I am, but I thank God for giving me the cures. The purely spiritual mission of his life became
grace to suffer; I need it so much!” more evident when, during the exposition of his body
The Death of a Saint — which lasted a week — confessionals were filled

In the ninety-first year of a life dedicated to Jesus, with repentant sinners who had been away from
God’s grace too long. Not only at the Oratory, but all
Mary and Joseph, the miracle man sensed his immin- over Montreal sinners were returning to God in great
ent departure from this vale of tears. Late in 1936, he numbers as more than one million people streamed
told one of the priests in his order that Christmas of past his poor little coffin. Some of these people had
that year would be his last in this life. Once, when he been sworn enemies who had spurned the miracle
passed the tiny hospital of Saint-Laurent, he com- worker as a fake, having dubbed him, “the old fool
mented, “What a fine place for patients to prepare on the mountain.” The “old fool’s” prayers very well
for death.” At 8:30 in the evening of December 31, may have saved many of these from an eternity with-
the wonder worker who cured so many was himself out God, just as they may have saved Canada from
admitted to that very hospital for what the physician the clutches of Communism.
thought was a mild heart attack, but was later diag-
nosed as acute gastritis. Today, the mortal remains of Blessed Brother
He spent his dying days as he had spent his Andre lie in a black marble sepulcher in the back of
the Oratory, the shrine he dedicated his life to erect-
whole life, unconcerned with his own sufferings — ing for Saint Joseph. In front of the Basilica towers a
which were great, considering that he refused any statue of Saint Joseph holding the Child Jesus. The
pain medication — and constantly praying for others. millions who file past it every year see on its stone
He offered up his prayers and mortifications for Cath- pedestal the words which the saintly old guardian
olic Spain, then being torn asunder by civil war, prior calls out from heaven: ITE AD JOSEPH — GO TO JO-
to General Franco’s defeat of the Communists. He SEPH! v
also prayed for the Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, who Brother Andre Marie
was sick and near to death. With friends at the side of
his own deathbed telling him how much he was still
needed, the good brother said, “There is one who is Make sure MICHAEL moves with you!
far more necessary than Brother Andre in this world:
that is the Pope. If the Holy Father passed away, it If you have just moved or are about to
would be disaster; he still has much to accomplish.” move, it is very important to send us your
The Pontiff lived for two more years, years in new address. If you do not send us your new
which he did accomplish much, addressing problems address, the post office returns your MI-
all over the globe: the Germans losing their faith to CHAEL magazine to our office and we bear
Nazism, the Mexicans being oppressed by an evil a cost for each journal returned. Thank you!
Masonic government, and the even more horrible

www.michaeljournal.org MICHAEL March/April 2020 17