hi,
Saint of the Day January 06, 2003
Blessed Andre Bessette
Brother Andr� expressed a saint�s faith by a lifelong
devotion to St. Joseph.
Sickness and weakness dogged Andr� from birth. He was
the eighth of 12 children born to a French Canadian
couple near Montreal. Adopted at 12, when both parents
had died, he became a farmhand. Various trades
followed: shoemaker, baker, blacksmith�all failures.
He was a factory worker in the United States during
the boom times of the Civil War.
At 25, he applied for entrance into the Congregation
of the Holy Cross. After a year�s novitiate, he was
not admitted because of his weak health. But with an
extension and the urging of Bishop Bourget, he was
finally received. He was given the humble job of
doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with
additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and
messenger. �When I joined this community, the
superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40
years.�
In his little room near the door, he spent much of the
night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount
Royal, was a small statue of St. Joseph, to whom he
had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it
he said, �Some day, St. Joseph is going to be honored
in a very special way on Mount Royal!�
When he heard someone was ill, he visited to bring
cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub
the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp
burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers
began to spread.
When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, Andr�
volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle
of sick people to his door became a flood. His
superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were
suspicious; doctors called him a quack. �I do not
cure,� he said again and again. �St. Joseph cures.� In
the end he needed four secretaries to handle the
80,000 letters he received each year.
For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to
buy land on Mount Royal. Brother Andr� and others
climbed the steep hill and planted medals of St.
Joseph. Suddenly, the owners yielded. Andr� collected
200 dollars to build a small chapel and began
receiving visitors there�smiling through long hours of
listening, applying St. Joseph�s oil. Some were cured,
some not. The pile of crutches, canes and braces grew.
The chapel also grew. By 1931 there were gleaming
walls, but money ran out. �Put a statue of St. Joseph
in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head, he�ll
get it.� The magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal took
50 years to build. The sickly boy who could not hold a
job died at 92.
He is buried at the Oratory and was beatified in 1982.
love + prayers,
Joseachayan / Jeddah / Saudi Arabia
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