St. André Bessette is the first saint from the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Alfred Bessette was born in Quebec on August 9, 1845, and he was orphaned by the time he was 12. He had to work to support himself and had little formal education, but from an early age he had a lively faith and a strong devotion to St. Joseph. After a few years trying to find work in the United States, he returned to Quebec, where his childhood pastor encouraged him to consider a vocation to religious life. He sent Alfred to the Holy Cross Brothers with a note that said, “I am sending you a saint.”
Upon entering Holy Cross, Alfred took the name André and was assigned as doorkeeper of Notre Dame College in Montreal. Among his many duties, he greeted visitors and tended to their needs. Eventually many people began to experience physical healings after praying with Brother André.
His reputation began to spread. So many people flocked to see him that the Congregation allowed him to see sick people at a trolley station across the street. The crowds got larger, more cures were reported, and Brother André became increasingly well-known. Through it all Brother André remained humble, often seeming confused that people would lavish such praise on him. He knew that the real source of these miraculous cures was St. Joseph’s intercession.
His desire to increase devotion to St. Joseph inspired him to found a shrine to his favorite saint across the street from Notre Dame College. He saved the money he earned from giving haircuts at five cents a piece, eventually earning the $200 he needed to construct a simple structure. This shrine opened in 1904, and in 1909 Brother André was released from his duties as doorkeeper and assigned full-time as the caretaker of the Oratory of St. Joseph.
The Oratory attracted large numbers of pilgrims, and plans were made to construct a large basilica. Brother André’s full-time ministry for the rest of his life was to receive the long lines of sick visitors who flocked to the Oratory to see him. He became known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal”, and thousands of miraculous healings were attributed to his intercession over the following decades.
Brother André died on January 6, 1937 at the age of 91. During the week that his body lay in state outside of St. Joseph’s Oratory, it is estimated that one million people braved the bitter Montreal winter to pay their respects. The basilica was eventually completed and remains a major pilgrimage site, attracting more than two million visitors a year. The side chapels are filled with the crutches of people healed through St. André’s prayers.
The reliquary chapel on campus contains relics of Br. André, and he is depicted in statuary and stained glass in many parts of campus. The stained glass image is in the chapel in the Stinson-Remick Building, and this statue and relic of St. André sits in the chapel in Columba Hall, the residence for Holy Cross brothers on campus.
In the United States, St. Andre’s feast day falls on the date of his death, Jan. 6. The worldwide Holy Cross community observes his feast day on Jan. 7 because many nations observe the feast of Epiphany on Jan. 6.
St. André Bessette, who was devoted to St. Joseph and welcomed the sick with the hospitality of Christ, pray for us!