Page 7 - Michael Journal 2020 March
P. 7

St. André


        Bessette:



        Montreal’s



        Miracle Worker






                                                    Photo: Cover of the Official Canonization Album of Brother André


            Saint  Joseph  is  naturally  associated  with  Saint   the Oratory of Saint Joseph, a worthy tribute to him
        Brother André in French speaking Canada and in the   who is the head of the Holy Family and the Patron of
        New England states. Founder of Saint Joseph’s Oratory   the Universal Church.
        in Montreal, the largest church in the world dedicated   If one were to ask any Canadian for the name of
        to Saint Joseph, Saint Brother André (born Alfred Bes-  the person who built this magnificent House of God,
        sette, 1845-1937) is credited with hundreds of miracu-  he would be told, “Brother Andre.” Yet, this little lay
        lous healings during his lifetime, obtained under the   brother’s name does not appear on any of the of-
        great saint’s intercession. Brother André was declared   ficial records of the building of the Oratory. He was
        blessed by St. John Paul II in 1982, and a saint by Pope   only a porter — a doorman — at a college owned
        Benedict XVI in 2010. The following excerpts from an   and operated by his religious congregation. He was
        article written by Brother André Marie on the saint are   a little man, both in size and, if one were to judge
        taken from the website catholicism.org  1            by appearance, in importance. He was not a priest;
                    by Brother Andre Marie                   therefore he could neither offer Mass nor preach.
                                                             Because of poor education, he did not know how to
            In the city of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Can-  read or write until he reached the age of twenty-five.
        ada, on a rise of earth known as Mount Royal, there
        stands a religious edifice of staggering proportions.    How is it, then, that this little brother is known
        It is three hundred and sixty-one feet high, taller than   and venerated all over the world as the little saint
        either  Saint  Patrick’s  Cathedral  in  New  York  or  the   who built the Oratory of Saint Joseph in Montreal? It
        Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Its girth is so mas-  is our privilege within the following pages to provide
        sive that it could hold within itself any one of most   you an answer to that question.
        of the world’s great shrines, including Saint Anne de                The Early Years
        Beaupre and Saint Paul of London. The cross atop its
        domed roof can be seen for miles around, guiding the     On August 9, 1845, Alfred Bessette was born to
        millions of pilgrims who come there each year. It is   Isaac and Clothilde Bessette, the eighth in what would
                                                             become  a  family  of  twelve  children.  The  Bessettes
        1  https://catholicism.org/br-andre.html             were  a  poor  French  Canadian  family  who  lived  in


        8      MICHAEL  March/April 2020                                                www.michaeljournal.org
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