St. Andre Bessette & St. Joseph - pray for us!

St. Andre Bessette

 

Today (in dioceses like Cincinnati where Epiphany is transferred to Sunday) we celebrate the memorial of St. Andre Bessette, one of our modern and North American saints who lived in Quebec in the 19th and 20th centuries.  He is not well know in the U.S., but I think should be, especially in this holy year of St. Joseph.

He spent much of his life encouraging thousands to develop a devotion to St. Joseph and was, like him, a shining example of the virtue of humility.  St. Andre (born Alfred) saw much suffering and tragedy in his life.  His father died in a work accident, his mother died of tuberculosis, he was sickly most of his life, he was barely literate, he was almost rejected by the religious community he wished to join (the Holy Cross Fathers and Brothers).  But he was allowed to become a brother doing menial tasks for the community.  Without complaint, he had an extraordinary love of the sick and the poor and brought hope and healing to countless thousands.  When he died in his 90s, a million people came to pay their respects.

Perhaps his most lasting legacy is the magnificent Oratory of St. Joseph atop a high hill in Montreal, Canada.  St. Andre begged the funds to begin building this and saw construction started before he died.  I believe it is the biggest church dedicated to St. Joseph in the world. 

That website for the oratory has a lot of good reading about St. Joseph for the holy year, as well as their founder, St. Andre. 

St. Andre and St. Joseph pray for us!


St. Joseph statue at the Oratory in Montreal

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