And why Montreal? Because there are great festivities there this weekend to celebrate the canonization — or advancement to sainthood — of her distant cousin, Andre Bessette, who becomes St. Andre of Montreal today.
Brother Andre, as he was known, was born in 1845. Orphaned at age 12, he was small and sickly his whole life, suffering from a stomach ailment that made physical work difficult. He emigrated to the U.S. at age 18, worked in the textile mills, and returned to Canada a few years later. With the help of a childhood parish priest, he entered holy orders as a brother in the Order of the Holy Cross, taking final vows at age 28. For forty years, he was the porter at the College Notre-Dame, minding the door, cleaning, mending, running errands, and giving haircuts to the students.
Devoted to St. Joseph, Brother Andre attracted many people who would come to him for help, to pray and for anointing with oil from the lamp that burned to St. Joseph in the college chapel. Brother Andre began to have a reputation as a healer, much to the consternation of his order.
Andre also wanted to have a church devoted to St. Joseph on Mount Royal, from which Montreal gets its name. Starting with money he saved from giving haircuts to the boys, he built a small structure, an oratory, which grew as more funds became available. Brother André was named custodian of the oratory in 1909, as his reputation grew and hundreds and then thousands of pilgrims made their way to Mount Royal to meet him and pray to St. Joseph. Brother Andre died in 1937, age 91, and over a million people paid their respects at his funeral.
The lesson for us is that there is greatness even in the most humble. In fact, some are great because they are humble. Ever since we married into Andre’s family, and living the life we do, the whole idea of imago Dei — that we are each in the image of God — has become very real to us.
Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we have great love and respect for those who are. It was an atmosphere where people like Andre Bessette — humble, sickly, uneducated, the despised of the world — could blossom into greatness. It’s what we’ll be thinking about today.
And if holiness rubs off down the family line — we’ll take it!
And why Montreal? Because there are great festivities there this weekend to celebrate the canonization — or advancement to sainthood — of her distant cousin, Andre Bessette, who becomes St. Andre of Montreal today.
Brother Andre, as he was known, was born in 1845. Orphaned at age 12, he was small and sickly his whole life, suffering from a stomach ailment that made physical work difficult. He emigrated to the U.S. at age 18, worked in the textile mills, and returned to Canada a few years later. With the help of a childhood parish priest, he entered holy orders as a brother in the Order of the Holy Cross, taking final vows at age 28. For forty years, he was the porter at the College Notre-Dame, minding the door, cleaning, mending, running errands, and giving haircuts to the students.
Devoted to St. Joseph, Brother Andre attracted many people who would come to him for help, to pray and for anointing with oil from the lamp that burned to St. Joseph in the college chapel. Brother Andre began to have a reputation as a healer, much to the consternation of his order.
The lesson for us is that there is greatness even in the most humble. In fact, some are great because they are humble. Ever since we married into Andre’s family, and living the life we do, the whole idea of imago Dei — that we are each in the image of God — has become very real to us.
Our family is not Roman Catholic, but we have great love and respect for those who are. It was an atmosphere where people like Andre Bessette — humble, sickly, uneducated, the despised of the world — could blossom into greatness. It’s what we’ll be thinking about today.
And if holiness rubs off down the family line — we’ll take it!