Frère André; as he was called in Quebec, was deeply devoted to St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church.  Like St. Joseph, he too knew poverty, suffering and hard labour and trusted in Divine Providence.  No one would ever have thought that this little Brother would have taken on the colossal work of building the world's largest basilica to good St. Joseph, but he did, and the foundation of this Oratory was formed more so with prayer than it was with stone, for it took many prayers and many sacrifices on the part of Br. André and his friends, to build this crown of glory for good St. Joseph.

Known as Alfred in his youth, Br. André was born on August 9, 1845 in the village of St. Gregoire d`Iberville, Quebec, to Isaac and Clothilde Bessette.  He was the eighth of twelve children and lived with his family in a one room house.  His parents were both pious and hard working; his father was a carpenter and wheelwright and his mother was a homemaker.  Being poor, often they ate only rye bread, but their mutual love, rooted on the love of God, compensated for their lack of food. A year later the family moved to Farnham, Quebec, in hope of finding more work.

Alfred was born with a severe stomach ailment which would last him a lifetime, and which prevented him from eating most foods.  This illness made him weaker than his siblings, and though he longed to help his father and brothers cut trees in the nearby forest, he was always too sick to join them.  Clothilde kept a special place in her heart for Alfred, and made special efforts to provide him with the foods he could digest. 

First Communion - 1857		Religious Profession - 1872

Mme. Bessette was always smiling, such a lovely smile, but one day in February 1851, she was not able to smile.  Her heart was broken when some neighbours came to the door, and informed her that a tree had fallen on Isaac and crushed him to death!  Poor Clothilde froze in her shoes, but she was not an easy prey to discouragement; she buried her husband the next day, and rolled up her sleeves.  Clothilde was able to keep her children together for a while, but it was too difficult, and worn out with fatigue, she contracted tuberculosis.  She was obliged to send her children to the homes of other relatives, but she kept little Alfred.  She went to live with her sister Mary and brother in law Timothée Nadeau, at the nearby village of St. Césaire.  Clothilde fought her tuberculosis for two years and before she died, her children were called to her bedside.  She consoled them with these loving words, "My dear ones, it is now six years since your father left you for Heaven.  The good God wishes me also to leave you.  Pray for me.  Do not forget the grave of your father.  Let my body rest beside his in the cemetery at Farnham.  From Heaven I shall watch over you!"  And on November 10, 1857, she died at the age of forty-three.

Mr. Nadeau was not a wealthy man and encouraged twelve year old Alfred, to earn his living.  He had the boy begin an apprenticeship as a shoemaker but this job proved too difficult for Alfred because he was bending, cutting leather and hammering all day long; and at the same time suffering from severe pains in his stomach.  Around this time, Fr. Provençal, the parish priest, prepared Alfred for his First Holy Communion, and it was on this great day that Alfred decided to imitate good St. Joseph for the rest of his life.

Even though Alfred was always sick, he was not afraid of doing penance and he often wore a barbed leather cincture, an iron chain, or some other penitential device around his waist.  On top of this he slept on the hard floor!  He also suffered at the hand of his cousins when they blamed him for pranks, which they had done.  Sensitive to these accusations, Alfred would often shed tears of sadness when he was alone.

In April 1860, Timothée Nadeau joined the gold rush for California with hundreds of other Canadians, in a migration caused by the inability of the government at the time, to protect and encourage the farmers, especially in the Quebec region.  He had settled his family in Farnham and Alfred, now fifteen, became a farmhand at the Ouimet farm, on the outskirts of the village of St. Césaire.  Alfred was a cheerful and hard working lad and he loved to spend much of his spare time praying.  He made a habit of conversing with good St. Joseph, and this devotion soon developed into an ardent love, which made his whole life an unceasing effort to imitate the holy carpenter.  In St. Joseph he found the ideal model and friend who would guide him to sanctity.  Alfred spent a year with the Ouimet's, and then for the following three years, he tried to be a baker, a tinsmith and a blacksmith, but poor health forced him to abandon these jobs. 

In 1863, when Alfred was eighteen, he joined the many French Canadians going to work in factories in the United States.  Because of the American Civil War, factories in New England needed all the help they could get, to feed and equip huge federal armies.  French Canadians could work wherever they were needed and went from one town to another, as new factories were opened and higher wages were offered.  Alfred ended up in Connecticut and worked in a few towns there, but from time to time he was forced to leave his work at the factories due to poor health, and take up lighter farm work.  Between 1863 and 1867, he learned to speak English, which would be a great asset in his later years.

In 1867, Alfred returned to Quebec with many other French Canadians, and settled near St. Césaire.  Later, Fr. Provençal introduced him to the Holy Cross Brothers who conducted a commercial school there.  These Brothers were founded in France by Basil Moreau, who came to Canada in 1847 to rebuild the French Canadian School system, which had been torn apart a century earlier by the British at the time of their conquest of Canada, as they tried to achieve uniformity by suppressing Roman Catholicism, French language and French culture!

In 1824, and again in 1841, the Canadian government took steps to reverse this policy.  French was restored as an official language, French Canadian culture was recognized, and direct persecution of Catholicism was stopped.  This move was an attempt to win the French Loyalty to Canada, and was prompted by fears of military invasion either from the United States, or some other powerful country, and by the realization that Britain alone did not have the military power to defend it's vast Empire.  Since French Canadians could not assume their proper role in the governance of Canada until they were properly educated, religious men and women who dedicated their lives to this noble work, were held in highest esteem by the people.

Working as a College Porter		Original Chapel and its Founder

Fr. Provençal was convinced that Alfred had a religious vocation, and when the young lad objected that he could neither read nor write, the pastor retorted, "No matter, there are brothers who dedicate themselves to other works Alfred, and that require neither reading nor writing.  You do not need to know how to read and write young man, to pray!"  But because of his poor health and lack of education, Alfred hesitated to join the Brothers of the Holy Cross for almost two years.  Fr. Provençal encouraged him and in December of 1870, he entered the Holy Cross Novitiate in Montreal.  At the same time Alfred delivered a letter of reference from Fr. Provençal, which read, "I am sending you a saint!" 

After a few weeks, Alfred received the religious habit and took the name André, the name of his good friend, Fr. Provençal.  At the end of the year, Fr. Guy, the Novice Master, told André that because of his poor health, there was little hope for him to remain a brother, but God intervened.  A few days later, Bishop Bourget of Montreal visited the Holy Cross Brothers.  Br. André pleaded, "Your Excellency, please help me.  I do so want to be a Brother."  The old Bishop looked kindly upon André, "Do not fear my dear son, you will be allowed to make your religious profession."  Fr. Guy also pleaded Br. André's cause saying, "If this young man becomes unable to work, he can at least pray.  Dear Confreres we are all dedicated to teaching people to pray.  This man teaches mainly by his example!"  On August 22, 1872, the Bishop's promise came true, and Alfred Bessette made the perpetual vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience at the age of twenty-eight.

At the end of his Novitiate, Br. André was given the job as Porter, and retained this position for forty years.  He was convinced that St. Joseph was responsible for his coming to Mount Royal, and he longed to honour St. Joseph in a special way.  He desired to build a shrine to St. Joseph on Mount Royal so he planted a medal of St. Joseph in the mountain, but little did he know that he was helping to fulfill the Cure of Ars prophecy: "This Congregation of the Holy Cross is destined; after many trials, to perform great works!"

As Porter, Br. André had to answer the doorbell and look for the religious and students who were called to the parlour. He woke the religious at 5:00 in the morning and during the day he rang the bell for the various exercises. He kept the parlour and corridors neat and clean, took care of the mail, and drove to town with a horse and carriage for the students' laundry, which was done by their parents. He was also a barber for the pupils and did sacristy work in the evening.

Br. André was still tortured by severe pains in his stomach, but he did his duty to the best of his ability and trusted all else to Divine Providence. His only food most of the time, was some bread dipped in milk and water. In the midst of his many occupations, he prayed constantly. After morning prayers and meditation made with the Community, Br. André used to follow Mass near the back door of the chapel so that he could hear the doorbell. Even at night he would pray in the chapel for many hours until he fell asleep on his knees, but he would soon wake up and resume his prayers. One night, he heard a noise and thought there were thieves in the college. But when he hastened to get another confrere and investigate, they could find no one. After this episode, a confrere decided to lock the chapel, but he was taken by surprise when the Porter opened the locked chapel door without a key, and went in to pray!

Br. André also loved to pray on the nearby mountain at night. One evening he went with one of the pupils and when they reached a clearing, they knelt near a tree. The Brother confided, "I have concealed a medal of St. Joseph here. Let us pray that we may be able to buy this piece of land." From that day on they came regularly to the same spot, and Br. André would often tell his little friend, "We will obtain this piece of land. St. Joseph needs it!" And one day the bursar said, "Br. André, can you explain why it is that every time I put things in order in my office, I find my little statue of St. Joseph turned towards the mountain?" The Porter had a ready answer, "It is because he wants to be honoured there!"

The religious, especially the Novices, loved to hike up the mountain but it was owned by a selfish man who would even send his dogs after the hikers.  The authorities of the college wanted to buy this piece of land because they feared that some disorderly resort might be built there, but the purchase price was too high.  The mountain was then sold to another person who also asked too much for it.  Then Br. Aldéric, the Bursar, buried a medal of St. Joseph in the mountain, just as Br. André had done many years before.  Finally on July 20, 1896, St. Joseph obtained the mountain property for the Holy Cross Community. 

Br. André was always ready to do a kind act, or give a word of counsel.  Both pupils and parents enjoyed talking to him, telling him their troubles and asking for his prayers; which they found to be very powerful.  When he made his daily rounds to the post office, he often went to visit the sick and would give them some of the oil, which had burned in front of the statue of St. Joseph in the college chapel.  And before long, people whom the holy brother visited, were saying, "Br. André is a saint!  He can heal the sick!"

The statue of Saint Joseph, Patron of the Church, has been greeting pilgrims in the crypt-church since 1917. It was cut out of Carrara marble by Italian sculptor A. Giacomini.

As Br. André often went to visit the sick, healing them or preparing them to die, the people in the area became accustomed to ask him to lay out their dead.  On one occasion, after preparing a man for burial, he returned to the college, said his prayers and retired to his room.  Suddenly he heard deafening noises coming from the nearby refectory.  Glasses, cups and dishes were being smashed to pieces, but when he rushed into the refectory he found that nothing was broken and everything was in its place!  This incident occurred again and again, and sometimes he saw a huge black cat, which also caused an unusual noise.  Br. André finally concluded, "The devil, enraged on account of my errands of mercy, is trying to frighten me."

Br. André's faith in St. Joseph grew more each day.  The college Bursar had been confined to his bed for over a month because of a leg injury.  He made a novena with Br. André, to St. Joseph and was able to go to the chapel for the Feast of St. Joseph, even though he had been seriously ill in bed, the day before!  Another time, a pupil was suffering from a terrible fever, and had been confined to bed in the college infirmary for several days.  During recreation, Br. André went to the infirmary and told the boy, "Get up, you lazy fellow.  You are in perfect health.  Go outside and play!"  The boy hesitated at first, but feeling better, he dressed and went outside.  Br. André was reprimanded for telling the boy to go outside, but when the doctor examined the boy several times that same day, he was forced to admit that the boy was cured!

Later on, smallpox broke out in the Community, and the infirmary in the former Novitiate was filled with patients, both pupils and religious.  A few died, and Fr. Beaudet, the Superior of the college, assisted by Br. André, nursed the patients back to health.  When the holy Brother entered the infirmary, he begged St. Joseph to remove the disease; no more people got smallpox, and all the sick were restored to health!

One cannot count the miraculous cures brought about by Br. André's prayers; health was restored to dying people, "hopeless" cases were cured, and arms and legs were healed as if it were child's play.  Sometimes the cure was instantaneous, "Arise and walk," and at other times, one had to be patient, and say more prayers and novenas.  At times the cure was only partial and Br. André would warn them, "Do not cease to pray, you might lose the little you have gained!"  Then there were times when just a word from Br. André would be enough to obtain the cure of a person who lived far away.  The remedy was always the same, "Have confidence in St. Joseph! Rub the diseased part with a medal of St. Joseph or with St. Joseph's oil."  Sometimes he would massage the limb with his own hands and obtain a cure.

Reports of Br. André's healing powers soon spread through Montreal.  More and more people flocked to the college to see the holy Brother and some even had contagious diseases!  They continued to crowd into the reception rooms and hallways, patiently waiting their turn to spend a few minutes with Br. André.  But with all these visitors, the parents of the students were worried that their sons would catch an illness from one of the sick visitors.  And furthermore, the crowds of people in the school corridors and chapel distracted the students and disrupted the whole college.  Something had to be done, so the Superiors ordered Br. André to stop receiving the sick and the holy Brother obeyed, but not the sick; they still kept coming!

The Superiors then worked out a compromise.  They told Br. André to ask his visitors to meet him at the trolley station across the street from the college.  But this only caused the trolley passengers to object about the contagiously sick people packing into the little station, especially in winter.  And the sick who did not know that Br. André was at the trolley station, went to the college.  The Superiors and diocesan authorities were very uneasy about the whole situation.  Archbishop Bruchesi of Montreal, summoned the Holy Cross Provincial and finding that Br. André was always obedient, he said, "Then let him alone.  If the work is from God, it will continue; if not it will crumble!"

The Superiors had given Br. André permission to place a statue of St. Joseph in a little niche on the mountain, and also to save the alms he received from the sick, and the money he earned as a barber at the college, for a future project to honour St. Joseph.  By the summer of 1904, the good Brother had collected $200, and the Superiors gave him permission to build a small chapel on the mountainside.  The Porter, now sixty years old, used all his energy to advance the project.  An access road had to be laid and basic materials acquired before construction could begin.  The $200 did not last long, but numerous benefactors helped Br. André out, week after week, as construction continued.

A small chapel, just big enough to hold an altar, a priest and altar boys, was completed in October 1904.  It had two huge doors that opened onto the grass, where two rows of benches were placed.  But the little chapel provided no shelter for the sick pilgrims, so they continued going to the college.  The Superiors considered transferring Br. André to New Brunswick, but Fr. Dion; the Provincial, and a group of religious interceded for him, "Enlarge the chapel, close it and heat it," they urged.  "The pilgrims will certainly use it."  A committee of laymen received permission from Holy Cross authorities to construct an all weather chapel.  It was completed by November 1908 and could accommodate 200 people in all kinds of weather.  In 1909, another building was completed; it contained a religious article shop, a restaurant, an office for Br. André, and a waiting room for the sick.  Finally the College was free from the flow of pilgrims.

During the summer of 1910, a sacristy was built with a room on the second floor.  Br. André took up residence there and his Superiors appointed him guardian of the shrine.  During that same year, Fr. Clement, a teacher, was appointed to assist Br. André at the shrine, but he was going blind, and was afraid of having to stop teaching!  Br. André knew that this priest was greatly needed; to hear confessions and to help troubled souls, but he did not worry, he prayed, and the next day Fr. Clement's eyesight had greatly improved, so he was able to continue to teach!         

Pilgrims came to the shrine, first by hundreds, and then by the thousands.  Br. André spent eight to ten hours a day in his new office, receiving thirty to forty people an hour.  As the years passed, many of the pilgrims were cured, leaving behind hundreds and hundreds of crutches, canes and braces.  435 cures were recorded for the year 1916, but most of the time no one kept an accurate account of the cures.  Many of the sick who were cured had little marble plaques of thanksgiving placed on the walls in the Oratory.

Br. André always had a sense of humour and would often joke with people to get a point across and, with modern changes constantly happening, he never let an occasion pass that could help souls better themselves by his remark or encouragement. On one occasion he saw a woman picking green apples on the Oratory grounds.  When she came to him to beg relief from the pains in her stomach, he replied, "Rub yourself with St. Joseph's medal and, of course, cease to eat green apples!"  To another woman who complained that she felt as if she always had a weight on her chest, Br. André replied, "It is surely not the collar of your dress that bothers you.  Rub yourself until the cloth grows!"  And on another occasion, he told a woman who was wearing a very short dress, "Aren't you afraid to get entangled in your dress?"  Br. André would never touch a woman, even to heal her; purity and modesty were always uppermost his mind.

Br. André, who alleviated the suf-ferings of others, suffered a painful trial himself, because of calumnies and slanders made against him. He told a trusted lay friend about these troubles, but this so called "friend" made a laughing stock of the poor Brother, when he told others the secrets of Br. André's heart. This hurt Br. André very much, but his devotion to the Passion of Our Lord, helped him to bear all his pains and sufferings. This devo-tion also helped him to win souls for Christ. He would often take his crucifix and meditate aloud, describing to some poor sinner, the numberless sufferings of the passion of Our Lord. He would sigh tearfully, "Oh, if we only loved the good God! If we loved the good God as He loved us!"

For the next two decades, the work of the Oratory dominated Br. André's thoughts and prayers.  He traveled all over north-eastern United States and many parts of Canada, raising funds for the Oratory.  And when he told people about good St. Joseph, he drew generous donations from his listeners.  Slowly but surely, the great concrete basilica rose towards the sky, but the undertaking eventually proved to be so expensive, that the Holy Cross Superiors grew discouraged.  To this Br. André often remarked, "I will not see the completion of the Oratory, but the work will be done.  It's not my project anyway, it's St. Joseph's!"

In 1931, the work on the Oratory stopped because money ran out and as the 1929 Great Depression continued during the 1930's, the work stalled for many years.  With the roof not constructed, the Oratory looked like a gigantic broken tooth, sitting atop the mountain.  In 1936, the Holy Cross authorities called a meeting to decide whether to complete the Oratory or to abandon the project.  At this meeting, Br. André encouraged, "Put a statue of St. Joseph in the middle of the building.  If he wants a roof over his head, he will get it!"  That very afternoon, the authorities did exactly as the holy Brother had suggested and two months later, they had enough money to resume construction.

Even though Br. André was now ninety years old, he continued his strenuous round of activities.  His heart remained full of compassion for the sick and the poor who came to visit him.  His health gradually weakened and at times he became nervous and exhausted.  In late December 1936, Br. André suffered an attack of acute gastritis and was taken to the hospital at St. Laurent.  Then shortly after the New Year, in 1937, he had a stroke and though he was in great pain, he told a companion, "How good God is.  How beautiful, how powerful.  He must indeed be beautiful since the soul which is but a ray of His beauty, is so beautiful."  Later he lapsed into a coma, and the hospital authorities permitted the sick to enter his room.  They came one by one to say a prayer, and to touch the old hands of the Brother that had healed so many.

A few days later on January 6, 1937, at the age of ninety-two, Br. André died, having received the last sacrament of the Church.  He was laid out in state at the Oratory the same day, and visitors began to throng there to see him.  In spite of cold, wet, icy winter weather, there was a continual procession past the coffin of Br. André.  For seven days the crowds filed past the coffin, including the blind, the diseased and the crippled, and Br. André did not forget about them, as many were cured!  The mourners came from all parts of Canada and from the United States; New York, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. In all, about a million people climbed the slope of St. Joseph's Oratory, in silent tribute to the famous yet humble little Brother.

On the morning of his funeral, Bishop Limoges of Mont-Laurier, officiated, and Cardinal Villeneuve, Archbishop of Quebec, gave the funeral oration, "Whatever be the reputation of her children for virtue, the Church requires that at their funeral services, prayers be said and supplications be made for the human frailties in their lives.  She forbids us to anticipate the judgement, which she reserves for herself, upon the heroicity of their virtues and the certainty of their entrance into Heaven.  With all respect to Holy Church, however, we may say that today we celebrate the Feast of Humility!"

In June 1978, Pope Paul VI declared Br. André; "Venerable", and Pope John Paul II declared him "Blessed", on May 23, 1982.  Even though Br. André's body lies in a simple black granite tomb, his prayers are even more powerful than they were on earth.  On the tomb we may read these words: "Pauper, Servus, Humilis" that is to say: Poor, Servant, Humble.  Br. André lived his vow of poverty to the fullest; he was not in the least concerned about gaining riches and gave everything back to God.  He was always at the beck and call of everyone else, especially when he was a Porter at the college, and he served the poorest of the poor by consoling them and praying for them.  And his humility knew no bounds; when the wrath of the Superior or of colleagues fell upon his head, he humbly accepted the corrections.  He used to say that he was only “the little dog of St. Joseph.” He was always giving and never taking, always lowering himself and never placing himself on a pedestal.  No wonder thousands of pilgrims come to St. Joseph's Oratory every year to receive physical and spiritual graces.  If we could but imitate Br. André at least in a small degree, we would be much better off, but alas for our human downfalls!  God has given him to us as a shining example, a steppingstone to virtue and a ladder to St. Joseph. Let us then go to Br. André and ask him to fill our souls with the beautiful virtues that St. Joseph had.