Page 7 - Michael Journal 2020 March

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