Page 13 - Michael Journal 2020 March

u “St. Joseph, then, must have a church which will Indeed, at times the biographies of the Blessed read
in a certain sense supply the service of all the others, more like architectural manuals than the life of a saint.
and in which he may receive every day the public This is because the life of the little brother was so in-
honors due to his eminent virtues... We wish to con- timately connected with the building of this shrine that
secrate whatever is left to us of strength and life in one cannot be discussed without the other. To put it
the task of having him honored in such a church and simply, what started out as a fifteen-by eighteen foot
of making that church a place of pilgrimage whither chapel in 1904 became a minor basilica in 1955, and
the faithful will come to visit him...” was completed — interior and all — in 1966. In his life-
This is the same bishop whom we reported ear- time, the shrine became big enough to warrant hav-
lier saved Brother Andre’s vocation nearly twenty ing a full-time guardian, a job to which Brother Andre
years after writing these words. Perhaps he knew that was appointed in 1909. For the present, however, we
the holy little novice who pleaded with him was the would rather discuss the life of the holy builder than
humble instrument through which the Patron of Can- the building itself.
ada would finally have a worthy shrine built. But even From the moment that he conceived the idea to
Bishop Bourget was not the first to express the desire the day he died, the Oratory of Saint Joseph was a
that such a shrine be built. Father Moreau had dreamt sacred task which Blessed Andre pursued with burn-
of a place of pilgrimage to Saint Joseph in the very ing zeal. Everything that he could do in the confines
early years of the Holy Cross Congregation in France. of religious obedience to make the shrine a reality, he
He thought of using the novitiate at Charbonniere, did immediately.
near Le Mans, for such a site. Both men were dead In his days as porter in the college, he also became
and buried before the Oratory was started, but both the school’s barber, a position which gave him oppor-
had a hand in its foundation all the same. tunity to give holy counsel to the boys. When the stu-
The shrine was in the thoughts and prayers of the dents paid him the small fee for their haircuts, Brother
porter for quite some time before he dared ask per- Andre would set the money aside for the shrine.
mission to build such a thing. He let only a handful of Miracles in the U.S.A.
privileged friends know of his holy aspiration. Every
once in a while he would let out a stray remark im- The determination that our brother had to build
pressing on the hearer the need for a chapel to Saint the shrine to Saint Joseph took him well beyond the
Joseph. Some of these occasions came with certain confines of Montreal to find the money needed for the
signs of the divine origin of the brother’s dream. One project. He toured many cities in the United States
of his confreres told him of a strange phenomenon in and Canada in this holy pursuit. Many of the French-
his cell: It seemed that every time this religious put his Canadian towns around Boston, including the indus-
statue of Saint Joseph facing his bed, he came back to trial cities of Lowell and Fitchburg, were on his itiner-
find the statue turned around, facing the Mount Royal. ary. In these forays, he made the rounds of factories
Laughing, Brother Andre told his confrere, “It is not to beg contributions from their workers.
strange at all; it simply means that Saint Joseph Even today can be found residents of these areas
wants to be honored on the mountain.” who vividly recall the visits of the saint. A religious in
Certainly Brother Andre wanted Saint Joseph our own order once met such a privileged resident,
honored on the mountain. In 1890, he took a young who related the story of a young couple with an infant
student with him on one of his regular Thursday medi- diagnosed as having a brain tumor. Upon learning of
tation walks. Taking the student up to the mountain- the child’s malady, Blessed Andre took the baby into
side across the street from the school, he told him, “I his arms, gently rubbing the afflicted infant’s head.
have hidden a medal of Saint Joseph here. We will The moving scene of the aged Brother caressing the
pray that he will arrange the purchase of this land for infirm baby was more than just a tender moment; the
us.” For six years he persevered in prayer for that in- child, it was later discovered, was completely cured.
tention, and in 1896, his prayers were rewarded. The Another episode in his American travels saw the
Holy Cross Congregation purchased the land, fearing conversion of a young non-Catholic named Henry
that such a prime piece of real estate would attract a Paine. Mr. Paine had pierced his hand with ice tongs
club or resort which would be an unwholesome dis- and it was so infected that the doctors talked of am-
traction so near the students. After the land was pur- putating the affected member. The young man prom-
chased, Brother Andre put a statue of Saint Joseph ised his Canadian visitor that that he would convert if
in a little cave on his chosen site. Placing a bowl in he was healed. At the touch of Brother Andre’s hand,
front of the statue, he planned on collecting alms from the pain left. Almost immediately, the hand was com-
Saint Joseph’s petitioners, alms which would be used pletely cured. Mr. Paine kept his promise: he did in-
to build a chapel. deed convert; and soon after, he married a Catholic
The building of the shrine was a complex thing. young lady.
It would be a distraction in this short biography to go The miracles wrought at the Oratory were many
into all of the details of what was completed and when. and spectacular. Still there were critics. Many cynics

14 MICHAEL March/April 2020 www.michaeljournal.org