St. André Bessette

Their story

Alfred Bessette was born on August 9, 1845, near Montreal, Quebec. He was so frail that he was baptized the day he was born for fear he would not live. His father died when he was nine and his mother when he was twelve. He had little schooling and could barely read or write. He tried many jobs, including several years working in mills in New England, but his poor health made it hard to keep any of them. Through it all he prayed constantly and had a special love for St. Joseph. In 1870 he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross and took the name Brother André. Because of his health the community almost sent him away, but he was accepted and given the job of porter at Notre-Dame College in Montreal. For about forty years he answered the door, ran errands and cleaned. He later joked that when he joined the order, they showed him the door, and he stayed there for forty years. Brother André welcomed everyone who came, and he especially visited and prayed with the sick. He would rub them with oil from a lamp burning before a statue of St. Joseph, and many reported being healed. He always insisted that it was St. Joseph's doing and not his own. With small donations he built a little chapel to St. Joseph on Mount Royal in 1904, which grew into the great St. Joseph's Oratory. He died on January 6, 1937, at the age of 91, and about a million people came to pay their respects. Pope Benedict XVI canonized him in 2010.