Saint Andre Bessette was born on August 9, 1845, with the name of Alfred Bessette. He was the eighth son to his mother and father Isaac and Clothilde Bessette. They were a poor family who lived in the village of St. Gregoire, Quebec. He was born a very sick baby, and his parents had a great fear of him not surviving. His lack of physical health continued to effect him, but greatly was able to live to the age of 91. Although he and his parents had great affection for each other tragedy soon struck the family. Sadly, at the age of six, his father had been killed in a lumbering accident near the town of Farnham. Four years after this, at the age of ten, Andre's mother received tuberculosis and had to put up her twelve children up for adoption, but managed to keep Andre due to his weak health. They went to live with his aunt Mrs. Timothée Nadeau, but then Clothilde died two years after. Andre was sadly left as an orphan at the age of twelve. He continued to live with his aunt, receiving work on the family farm, but could not because he was too weak, and his physical health wasn't fit for the job. His uncle also offered him the job as a shoe-maker but that didn't work out either. Later on in life, Andre wanted to become a priest, but did not because he was not properly educated and did not have qualities of a priest. Although this happened, they had let him become the doorman to the church as he greeted the people in and held the door for them. This was when miracles began to occur. As he held the door for the people, they would come to ask him if there was a priest available. If the priest was occupied or was not there, Andre was willing to talk and listen to their prayers and pray for them or their ill loved ones. Amazingly, the people who had prayed with Andre had come to tell people their loved ones were cured and healed. More and more people came to the church to ask Andre to pray with them to St. Joseph. Praying to the Lord had helped many people, and although Saint Andre had a rough past, he soon became a miracle worker for many many people. On October 17^th 2010, he was declared of being a Saint and many people know his story. He had a very humble life and was devoted to God, and many people look up to him for his personality of never losing hope, which had helped people and made so many miracles.

-Christine

St. Andre

Saint André

Saint André was a strong person who believed in God's power.  As a child he had a very hard life.  His father died when he was young and his mother died soon afterward.  Saint André found himself an orphan.  He went and lived with his aunt.  He experienced many different jobs but was not able to pursue a lot of them because of his weak health condition.

André was known as Brother André since 1872.  Later, André became the doorman at Notre Dame College.  With his faith and confidence in Saint Joseph, André would suggest to sick people that they should pray to him.  André would also them anoint them with oil from the lamp in the college chapel.  Many people stated that they had been cured with the help of Brother André and their prayers.  People now would go to see André so that he could help them get well also.

Saint André had a basilica built named Saint Joseph's Oratory.  He died at the age of 91 and millions if people mourned at his death.  He was a great man who cared for others.  I think he fully deserved to become a Saint on October 17, 2010.  Pope Benedict XVI officially announced sainthood for Brother André on this date.  He helped so many people and now people will acknowledge his great deeds and will look up to him.

                                                                        -Ashley

The Little Man and the Mountain

St. Andre

St Andre lived August 9, 1845 – January 6, 1937 and was officially named a saint on October 17, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI.  He was born in  Mont-Saint-Grégoire, Quebec and his original name was Alfred Bessette.  From the moment he was born he had to be specially looked after because of his frail body.  St Andre's father worked in the lumber industry, his father tragically lost his life in an accident with a tree falling on him when Andre was only nine years old.  Three years later his mother had died of tuberculosis, that left Andre and his ten siblings orphaned and on their own.  Andre was then sent to live with his aunt and uncle, he was searching for a job that would suit his fragile health.  That left St Andre wandering in search for a job with little education and barley the ability to read.  He sampled jobs such as a blacksmith, baker, shoemaker and wagon driver.  A pastor noticed the gentle, spiritual Andre and pursued for him to become part of the church system but he was denied because of his poor health.  But in 1874 he was finally accepted as Brother Andre. Bessette died in 1937, at the age of 91.  Millions of people remembered Andre and all the miracles he had performed with praying to St Joseph.  His body forever lies in the church that Andre helped build. 
  St Andre grew up as an average, humble man that today is known as one of the greatest servants of the Lord.  St Andre was not somebody who got everything handed to him like our current generation.  St Andre had a life of countless challenges and obstacles that he miraculously overcame.  Regardless of St Andre's deprived, destitute and ill-educated life, St Andre lived it to the fullest. He lived a modest and humble life through the light of the Lord and performed unfathomable miracles. Wealth or possessions were never a priority in his life, the significant goal that this feeble man achieved was the reward of assisting others.  Due to his weak physical state, St Andre became incapable of doing activities in life, but he never complained to the Lord.  The Lord had a plan for St Andre in the earliest times.  The Lord has prepared a plan for each of us that are waiting to be fulfilled.   Even in the most terrible times, we have to remember the Lord has included unfortunate events to test our faith in Him.  St Andre was faced with many tests from the Lord in his life.  Instead of becoming discouraged or upset with God, St Andre embraced the circumstances and tried to make the best of them.  In fact he was happy and content with his life because St Andre had the important things in his life, a personal relationship with the Lord and a place in heaven. 
Figuring that he was too unintelligent to become anything else, St Andre became a doorman at Notre Dame College in Montreal.  The only job for him each day was opening and closing the doors.  But he didn't frown on being a doorman; he enjoyed listening to people's situations and praying to St Joseph.  With St Andre's sincere prayers, problems were cured!  Andre was aware that he couldn't help the situations himself, so he prayed to the Lord which assisted many.  St Andre truly was the miracle worker of Montreal.  He was also able to build an astonishing oratory. This miniscule man is an example to all of us that when our situation becomes difficult the strong hearted will work harder, just like St Andre.  He trusted in the Lord and the Lord directed his meek, humble, holy and spiritual life. 

 Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your path."

~Christina Z

Saint Andre

Saint Andre

Approximately seventy-three years ago on January sixth a man named Andre Bessette died. He was the first saint of the twenty-first century but he only became a saint after he died and until that we would have called him Blessed Andre. Saint Andre was born and was raised in Quebec and when he grew up, he made his own oratory. Andre was a poor man and unfortunately his parents died when he was at a young age so his uncle raised him. His uncle was very unkind to him because his uncle though he was lazy when he was actually weak and sickly. Also, because he was sickly he could not help around the farm and he was ill-educated. Even with all that against him still had a successful life "despite my limitations," he said, "There was no one who worked harder than me." At first he was rejected from the holy order because he was not smart enough so he became the doorman in Montreal. After that the miracles started to happen because he listened to people's problems and asked god to help them along with answering the door. He built his own church so that people could ask god themselves and millions of people go there every year with their prayers answered.

By: Sean

St.Andre

St.Andre

St.Andre was born in the year of 1845 and died in the year of 1937. He lived a life full of great difficulties. But even with all of these difficulties in his life, he never complained or got mad. When Brother Andre was 9, his father died from a falling tree that fell on him. Then a few years later, Brother Andre's mother died from tuberculosis. Brother Andre had a disability. As Brother Andre got older, he wanted to be a priest in a church in Montreal. But since he was in bad health and never had the qualities of being a priest, the church didn't accept him. So they let Brother Andre be a doorman of the church. Soon, people who had a sibling in bad health asked Brother Andre if there was a priest available to pray for their sibling, but there weren't any. Then Brother Andre offered the person to pray with them to St.Joseph. After that, the person Brother Andre prayed for got healed. In a little while, there were long lineups to see and pray with Brother Andre, not the priests. Brother Andre had determination and lots of respect for others. He spent lots of hours everyday praying to St.Joseph of other people. Brother Andre did thousands of miraculous healings over his life time.

-Adam

Saint Andre

                                                 Saint Andre

    On August 9 1845 Andre Bessette was born to a poor family that lived in the village of St. Gregoire, Quebec. Andre was born the eighth child out of twelve, he was very sick from birth. Andre's father died in a lumbering accident when he was six years old. Four years later at the age of ten his mother became sick with tuberculosis. She was unable to care for her twelve children by herself so she put them up for adoption. She only kept Andre because he was sick. Together Andre and his mother went to live with her sister in St. Cesaire. After two years of being ill Andre's mother died when he was twelve. When he's mother died he continued to stay with his aunt and uncle. His uncle made him work on the farm, but with his illness he could not. Since he could not work on the farm his uncle sent him to to a cobbler to learn how to make shoes, this did not last long because he kept pricking his finger on the cobbler's awl.
     Later in life Andre decided he wanted to devout his life to God, unfortunately he was not educated so he could not be a priest. He was assigned as a porter in a college. The college was called Notre- Dame- du- Sacre- Coeur and was in Cote des Neiges, Quebec. While people would wait to see the priest the would talk to Andre and he would pray for them and their problems would go away. He preformed so many miracles that people started to come to see him. Andre told the people he preformed the miracles for to thank St. Joseph not him. Andre wanted to build a shrine to St. Joseph on the mountain in Montreal. He prayed for six years that St. Joseph would arrange for someone to buy the land on the mountain. In 1896 the Holy Cross Congregation purchased the land. Brother Andre put a statue of St.Joseph in a cave on the property and a bowl in front of him so he could collect alms which he would use the alms to build a church. The work on the church started in 1904 and was finished in 1966. The church was big enough that it needed a full time guardian which Andre's job since 1909. When Andre died on January 6, 1937, at the age of 91 doctors believed he died of what was an acute gastritis. The Oratory of St. Joseph that Andre dedicated his life to now has St. Andre's remains.
On the 17th of October 2010 Blessed Brother Andre became a saint 73 years after his death.



Christina P

Saint Andre

Saint Andre

Approximately seventy-three years ago on January sixth a man named Andre Bessette died. He was the first saint of the twenty-first century but he only became a saint after he died and until that we would have called him Blessed Andre. Saint Andre was born and was raised in Quebec and when he grew up, he made his own oratory. Andre was a poor man and unfortunately his parents died when he was at a young age so his uncle raised him. His uncle was very unkind to him because his uncle though he was lazy when he was actually weak and sickly. Also, because he was sickly he could not help around the farm and he was ill-educated. Even with all that against him still had a successful life "despite my limitations," he said, "There was no one who worked harder than me." At first he was rejected from the holy order because he was not smart enough so he became the doorman in Montreal. After that the miracles started to happen because he listened to people's problems and asked god to help them along with answering the door. He built his own church so that people could ask god themselves and millions of people go there every year with their prayers answered.

By: Sean D

St. Andre

                                                                      St. Andre

     Saint Andre is and important person. He was born August 9, 1845 and died January 1936.Andre was 91 years old when he died. Before he was a saint his name was Brother Andre Bessette. Andre was in Quebec at St. Joseph's Oratory. He was suppose to direct people to an isle. He hears peoples problems and prays for them. Once he prays peoples problems are solved. More people came to him to be healed. He tells them to pray with him to St. Joseph. People who were poor and sick came to Andre.In Quebec he is known as the Miracle Man. Since 2010 Andre is known as Saint Andre. 

                                                                                               -Ryan M

St. Andre

St. Andre

Saint Andre had a very hard life. He was from a poor family and lost both of his parents at a young age. He was constantly sickly and was too poor to pay for his education. Even though his life was difficult he did not lose faith in God. Saint Andre wanted to become a priest. The church could not make him a priest since he was poorly educated.  However, he was given a job as the door man for the church. While people waited in line to speak to the priest, Saint Andre would talk to them.  He would listen to their problems and pray with them.  Miracles started to occur, it seem that whoever prayed with Saint Andre had their prayers answered. Now everyone wanted to see Saint Andre and ask him to pray for them. The people stopped coming to see the priests and as a result a church was opened dedicated to Saint Andre.

                                                                       

By: Tif K. 

Religion

                                  Saint Andre

     Saint Andre used to be known as "Brother Andre". He was a very special man. Saint Andre built a chruch in Montreal called "St.Joseph's Oretory". When people used to come to his church, he would always be there for anyone. Saint Andre was born in Quebec.

     As many people were ill, had a broken bone or e.t.c. they would go to Saint Andre and ask him for advice. He would tell them to pray to god and to give god all of their forgiveness. So, for each and every person that came to Saint Andre, he would pray with them and finally after a week or more, those people would be healed or cured. It almost seemed like magic. Later on, Saint Andre would get a really big line up of people waiting JUST for HIM! This was the whole idea on how he got the name Brother/Saint Andre and this great man Saint Andre, passed away when he was 91, on January 6th, 1937 and until this day, he is still a famous man.

                                                                            Tiffany.H

St André

                                                                             

                                                                                                           St.Andre

St.Andre was a very dedicated religious man, St.Andre was just a door man on one of the church on Montreal, he was not a priest. St.Andre who they call the miracle man,because every time the sick people ask for his prayer St.Andre will pray for them and they get healed.Sick people were healed by his touch and prayers. St.Andre built a magnificent house for God, he built the small chapel where he could receive those in need.Sadly St.Andre died on the age of 91. But St.Andre requested that his heart will be kept in the church so as to provide protection  for the church and the people who enter. St.Joseph's oratory is covered with crutches and other items left by those who were healed.

                                          

                                        

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew

  Saint Andre was from Montreal, and had a job as a door man at a Church.  Saint Andre was a poor man with an illness, and this prevented Saint Andre from getting any jobs.   Saint Andre wanted to be a priest, but the Church told him that he couldn’t be a priest.  Instead, the church offered Saint Andre a position as a doorman at the Church, which Saint Andre was happy to have.  Saint Andre was good at his job.  He    would tell every single person he opened the door for that he would pray for them.  As time passed people started feeling better and they believed in Saint Andrew when he would pray for them.  As a result, the people only came to see Saint Andre and not the Priest! Saint Andre finally opened up his own Church, something he really wanted to do.  

Saint Andrѐ

                Saint Andrѐwas a very remarkable person. In his life, he lost many family members. He lost his mother and father and some siblings. He had very bad health and wasn't very bright since he was poor and couldn't afford school. Saint Andrѐ  had every right to be upset with God, but God had bigger plans for Andrѐ. Saint Andrѐ had to get a job,. But because he was ill-educated he didn't get very far. Until one day the church offered him a job as the door man for their church. The people who visited the church were often sick or  hurt physically or emotionally, seeking for help from the priest. Saint Andrѐ heard about these peoples' problems and hepled by blessing them. After bessing those people they were suddenly cured... like a miracle! Now when people came to the church sick or hurt, they didn't come to see the priest they came to see Andrѐ! Over the years people lined up in huge lines just to get Andrѐ's blessing to get cured. They came in sick and left cured! Saint Andrѐ wasn't always Saint Andrѐ. Before he was called Blessed Brother Andrѐ. In order to be a saint, you have to perform 3 miracle and have to be dead. Andrѐ performed many miralces and died 73 years ago this year. Just a couple of months ago, Blessed Brother Andrѐ was no longer Blessed Brother, but Saint Andrѐ! This shows that in the beggining of your life has just begun but it feels like it has just ended, and it feels like everyone is against you, even God! But God has Better plans for you later on!

                                                                                              By: Dani

Hey Saint Andre!!!

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi

How did a poor, humble, ill-educated boy become a great Saint?

                     The Little Man and the Mountain

Just a few details about the Saint we celebrate today. Saint Andre Bessette died today, Jan 6th some seventy-three years ago. He was canonized last year by Pope Benedict and has become the first Canadian Saint of the 21^st century. Saint Andre is one of ours. He’s literally from our backyard. He was born and grew up in Quebec. He built one of my absolute favourite places in the World…St. Joseph’s Oratory. It’s this beautiful church (a Bascilica actually) that honours the faith we all share. Millions of people have visited and celebrated the loving God who hears the needs of his people. (Don’t believe me…check out the pictures below.

Saint Andre had an interesting life. He came from a very poor family. Both parents died at young age and an uncle who seems to have been quite unkind to him raised him. His uncle despised him because he thought that Andre was lazy. He wasn’t. Weak and sickly as a child, Saint Andre couldn’t help much around the farm. His poverty and illness caused him to be poorly educated. Despite all these things working against him, he didn’t become bitter or angry. Despite my limitations," he said, "There was no one who worked harder than me." He was content to be a humble servant of God. He faced all the obstacles in his life and he overcame them. 

Maybe because he lost his father as a child, he had a special devotion to Our Lord Jesus’ earthly father Saint Joseph. He prayed to St. Joseph and asked the Saint to guide him the way St Joseph had guided our Lord Jesus.

When he was initially rejected form the Holy Order, he persisted. He wasn’t considered smart enough to do much else, so the powers that be made him a doorman at Notre Dame College in Montreal. He was just supposed to answer the door when people came and direct them to where they need to go. But he was kind. He listened to people’s problems. He knew that he couldn’t help them, so he asked God to do so. He would ask his pal St. Joseph to pray to his Son.  And THINGS BEGAN TO HAPPEN. He became known as the miracle worker of Montreal. People got cured. Problems got solved.  He became a great servant of God. He decided he wanted to build a church so that people could go for themselves and ask St. Joseph to pray for them. He, this little nobody would build the greatest church devoted to St Joseph in the world. Millions of people visit every year and come away with their prayers answered. Instead of focusing on himself, he wanted to help others. And God raised him up.  I love Saint Andre. Let’s thank God for this great Saint!!!
 Sweet Saint Andre, pray for us.

Find out about this local boy made  great, check out  the links below. 

http://catholicism.org/br-andre.html