Saint André Bessette
Saint André Bessette, C.S.C., (French: Frère André; 9
August 1845 – 6 January 1937), born Alfred Bessette and
since his canonization sometimes known as Saint André of
Montreal, was a lay Brother of the Congregation of Holy
Cross and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic
Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands
of reported miraculous healings. He was declared venerable
in 1978 and was beatified in 1982. Pope Benedict XVI
approved sainthood for Blessed André on February 19,
2010, with the formal canonization taking place on October
17, 2010.
Early life
Alfred Bessette was born in Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec
(then Canada East), a small town situated 40 kilometers
south-east of Montreal. He was so frail when he was born
that the curé baptized him on an emergency basis and then
conditionally the following day. He was from a working class family; his father, Isaac Bessette,
was a carpenter and lumberman and his mother, Clothilde Foisy Bessette, saw to the education of
her ten children (two others died in infancy). In 1849, with employment scarce and his family
living in poverty, Alfred's father decided to move to Farnham (in Quebec) where he hoped to
earn a living as a lumberman. Tragically, he lost his life in an accident, crushed by a falling tree,
when Alfred was only nine years old. His mother found herself widowed at the age of forty with
ten children in her care. She died of tuberculosis within three years, and Alfred found himself
orphaned at the age of twelve. Later Brother André would say, "I rarely prayed for my mother,
but I often prayed to her." He was sent to live with his mother's sister, Rosalie Nadeau, and her
husband Timothée, who attempted to establish Alfred in various trades, but the boy's fragile
health (which would afflict him throughout his life) made sustained manual labor difficult. Since
he obviously did not have a trade, Alfred began a thirteen-year odyssey wandering from job to
job with few belongings and little education. He was barely able to write his name or to read his
prayer book. At various times he worked as a tinsmith, blacksmith, baker, shoemaker and wagon
driver.
From his earliest days, Alfred exhibited an unusually intense spirituality. He would often spend
his scant free time praying before a crucifix or evangelizing his friends, and his many selfimposed penances drew the admiring rebuke of his gentle aunt, who was concerned that the boy
was endangering his already poor health.
When he was 20 years old, Alfred joined many Canadians who were emigrating to the United
States to work in a textile mill of New England, then operating at full output to supply the needs
of the Union army in the American Civil War. Though his health was not robust, he worked
doggedly. "Despite my limitations," he said, "There was no one who worked harder than me."
When the Canadian federation was formed in 1867, he returned to his native country.
Call to devotion
The pastor of his parish, the Rev. André Provençal, noticed the devotion and generosity of the
young man. He decided to present Alfred to the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal, writing
a note to the superior, "I'm sending you a saint." Although he was initially rejected by the order
because of frail health, Archbishop Ignace Bourget of Montreal intervened on his behalf, and in
1872, Alfred was accepted, and entered the novitiate of the congregation, receiving the religious
name of Brother André, by which he was known for the rest of his life. He made his final vows
on February 2, 1874, at the age of 28.
André was given the task of porter at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec. He
fulfilled this function for some forty years while at the same time doing innumerable odd jobs for
the community. At the end of his life, he would joke that when he came, he was shown the door,
and stayed for forty years. In addition to his duties as receptionist, his tasks included washing
floors and windows, cleaning lamps, bringing in firewood and carrying messages.
His great confidence in Saint Joseph inspired him to recommend this saint's devotion to all those
who were afflicted in various ways. On his many visits to the sick in their homes, he would
recommend them in prayer to St. Joseph, and would anoint them lightly with oil from the lamp in
the college chapel which always burned before the St. Joseph altar. People claimed that they had
been cured through the prayers of the good Brother and Saint Joseph, and they were grateful
their prayers had been heard. Brother André steadfastly refused to take any credit for these cures,
and, although usually a gentle man, he was known to become enraged at those who suggested
that he possessed any healing powers. Because he wanted St. Joseph to be honored, in 1904
Bessette began the campaign to erect a chapel to honor the saint.
Brother André's reputation grew, and soon he was known as the miracle worker of Mount-Royal.
He had to face the attacks and the criticism of numerous adversaries. He had the strong support,
however, of the diocesan Church, and thousands of cures without apparent medical explanation
made him the object of popular acclaim.
In 1924 construction of a basilica named Saint Joseph's Oratory, began on the side of the
mountain, near Bessette's chapel
Death and path to canonization
Bessette died in 1937, at the age of 91. A million
people filed past his coffin.
The remains of Bessette lie in the church he
helped build. His body lies in a tomb built below
the Oratory's Main Chapel, except for his heart,
which is preserved in a reliquary in the same
Oratory. The heart was stolen in March 1973, but
recovered in December 1974.
Brother André was beatified by Pope John Paul II
on May 23, 1982. The miracle cited in support of
his beatification was the healing in 1958 of
Giuseppe Carlo Audino, who suffered from cancer. St. Andre is commemorated in most of the
world by an optional memorial on January 6. His memorial is celebrated in Canada on January 7.
On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a decree recognizing a second miracle
at Blessed André's intercession, and on October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI formally declared
sainthood for Blessed Andre. Along with Saint André, sainthood was also approved for
Stanislaw Soltys, C.R.L., a 15th-century Polish canon regular and Religious Sisters from various
nations: Giulia Salzano, S.C.S.C.J., and Camilla Battista da Varano, O.S.C., (Italy); Candida
Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola, F.I., (Spain) and an Australian, Mother Mary MacKillop,
S.O.S.J.