Today the Church remembers Saint Andre Bessette. His story is a remarkable one and he is a great example of faith and devotion that we might imitate today!Alfred Bessette was born in Canada on August 9, 1845. He entered the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1870, taking the name of Brother Andre. He was assigned to be doorkeeper at the community's high school in Montreal. There he fostered devotion to Saint Joseph among the sick and otherwise afflicted and soon became known as the "Miracle Man" of Montreal.
With ever bigger crowds of the poor and needy gathering in front of the school. it soon brought protests from the students' parents and some community members. Bro. Andre, aware of this problem, asked in 1904 to build a small chapel on the hill beyond the school. This was the small beginning of the Oratory of St. Joseph that now stands there.
Bro. Andre died on January 6, 1937. His burial had to be postponed for several days until the last of more than three million people were able to pass by his bier and pay him homage. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
To learn more about Blessed Andre please look here!
3 comments:
Hey, St. Joseph's Oratory is in my neck of the woods - just a 2 hour drive away from Stowe, VT...a truly beautiful place to visit - actually the entire city of Montreal is worth a trip if you're anywhere near here...
Brother Andre worked a miracle for my son Michael ..just after the year of the Montreal games.We were on vacation in Vermont , from Florida , and six of my children had chicken pox . We went to Montreal to see the Games sites and took Michael with us ,since he didn't have the pox. As we went to visit the Shrine of St. Joseph, Michael started to get sick and I saw about 5 pox on him. I took him to brother Andre's grave and said ..Brother Andre, you healed people..Please do your stuff!! And Michael never got another pox and recovered at once.
That is amazing! Thanks be to God! Thanks for sharing that family miracle!
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