Saint André of Montreal | Salt + Light Television

Brother André was born Alfred Bessette on August 9, 1845 in Saint-Grégoire d’Iberville, Quebec. He was orphaned at the age of 12 and left to support himself despite a chronic stomach ailment from which he suffered his entire life.

Between 1863 and 1867, like many other young people at that time, he emigrated to the northeastern United States where he worked in the textile mills. In 1867 he returned to Canada and sought the help of his childhood parish priest who encouraged the young man to pursue his desire to enter into religious life.

Brother André made his final vows in 1874 as a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal. He was 28 years old. For the next 40 years, at the Collège Notre-Dame, Brother André contented himself with humble tasks - welcoming visitors, cleaning, running errands and serving as barber for the students. He attracted large numbers of people seeking help and would give them a medal of St. Joseph, oil from a lamp burning before a statue of St. Joseph in the college chapel and anoint the ill and pray with them.

News of his power to heal spread as people began to recover. Brother André would always insist it was the work of St. Joseph, not himself. His love for St. Joseph inspired him to build a Church in his honour. Using the small sums he received cutting hair, as well as donations, the brother was able to build a modest structure in 1904, which he continued to expand as more funding became available. Brother André was named custodian of the oratory in 1909, as hundreds and then thousands of pilgrims made their way to Mount Royal to meet Brother André and pray to St. Joseph. Brother André died on January 6, 1937, at the age of 91. Between his death and burial, more than 1 million people came to pay tribute to him.

In this frail Brother of Holy Cross, God’s strength and might were revealed to the world. “Pauper, servus et humilis” are the Latin words written above his tomb, meaning poor, servant and humble. They are also the words that are sung in the Panis Angelicus, the magnificent hymn about the Eucharist: bread that is poor, servant and humble, broken and shared for the world. Members of the Archdiocese of Montreal, the Congregation of Holy Cross and Saint Joseph’s Oratory were present in the Vatican’s Consistory Hall on February 19th to hear Pope Benedict XVI declare his upcoming canonization. It is with great joy that we look forward to the canonization of Brother André, a true model for Sainthood and guardian for Canada. In Brother André, the Word became flesh among us in Montreal and in Canada.