Saint of the Day for January 6:
AndrĂ© Bessette (August 9, 1845 â January 6, 1937) Listen to Saint AndrĂ© Bessetteâs Story Here Brother AndrĂ© expressed a saintâs faith by a lifelong devotion to Saint Joseph. Sickness and weakness dogged AndrĂ© 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, blacksmithâall failures. He was a factory worker in the United States during the boom times of the Civil War. At 25, AndrĂ© applied for entrance into the Congregation of Holy Cross. After a yearâs 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. âWhen I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained 40 years,â he said. 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 Saint Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, âSome day, Saint Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!â 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, AndrĂ© 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. âI do not cure,â he said again and again. âSaint Joseph cures.â 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 AndrĂ© and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph. Suddenly, the owners yielded. AndrĂ© collected $200 to build a small chapel and began receiving visitors thereâsmiling through long hours of listening, applying Saint Josephâs 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. âPut a statue of Saint Joseph in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head, heâll get it.â 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. He was beatified in 1982 and canonized in 2010. At his canonization in October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that Saint Andre âlived the beatitude of the pure of heart.â Reflection Rubbing ailing limbs with oil or a medal? Planting a medal to buy land? Isnât this superstition? Arenât we long past that superstitious people rely only on the âmagicâ of a word or action. Brother AndrĂ©âs oil and medals were authentic sacramentals of a simple, total faith in the Father who lets his saints help him bless his children.
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