Saint André Bessette

Also known as

Alfred
Alfredo
Andreas
Frère André

Memorial

6 January

Profile

Son of a woodcutter, and eighth of twelve

children. His father died in a work-related
accident, his mother of tuberculosis, and he
was adopted at age twelve by a farmer uncle who insisted he
work for his keep. Over the years Andre worked as a
farmhand, shoemaker, baker, blacksmith, and factory worker.
At 25 he applied to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross;
Andre was initially refused due to poor health, but he gained
the backing of Bishop Bourget, and was accepted.

Doorkeeper at Notre Dame College, Montreal, Quebec,

Canada. Sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. He spent
much of each night in prayer, and on his window sill, facing
Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom
Andre was especially devoted. “Some day,” Andre believed,
“Saint Joseph will be honored on Mount Royal.”

Andre had a special ministry to the sick. He would rub the sick
person with oil from a lamp in the college chapel, and many
were healed. Word of his power spread, and when an epidemic
broke out at a nearby college, Andre volunteered to help; no
one 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
always said; “Saint Joseph cures.” By his death, he was
receiving 80,000 letters each year from the sick who sought
his prayers and healing.

For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy
 land on Mount Royal. Brother Andre and others climbed the
steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph on it, and soon
after, the owners yielded, which incident helped the current
devotion to Saint Joseph by those looking to buy or sell a
home. Andre collected money to build a small chapel and
received visitors there, listening to their problems, praying,
rubbing them with Saint Joseph‘s oil, and curing many. The
chapel is still in use.

Born

9 August 1845 near Montreal, Quebec, Canada as Alfred Bessette

Died

6 January 1937 of ‘gastric catarrh’ in the infirmary of Our Lady of

Hope convent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
more than a million people paid their respects at his funeral
his tombstone reads: Pauper, servis a humilis (a poor and humble
servant)

Venerated

12 June 1978 by Pope Paul VI

Beatified

23 May 1982 by Pope John Paul II

Canonized

17 October 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI

Patronage

family caregivers in Canada

MLA Citation

“Saint André Bessette“. CatholicSaints.Info. 6 January 2017. Web.

12 February 2017. <>

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