A one of a kind event will take place at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on October 30, 2010: the celebration of the canonization of Brother André Bessette.Last February 19, Pope Benedict XVI announced that Brother André would be canonized on October 17, 2010, in Rome. Cornwall/Alexandria Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher is organizing a bus trip so the citizens of Cornwall can attend the massive celebration in Montreal.
Along with Angelo Towndale of the SD&G Children’s Treatment Centre, Durocher hopes to send 25 coach buses, leading to approximately 1,200 people from Cornwall and area attending the celebration.
“There’s a real living connection here to Brother André” said Durocher.
Fundraising for the trip is currently underway and Durocher said the diocese will help pay the way to Montreal and for a seat in the former home of the Montreal Expos baseball team. The cost per person is $15.
Brother André was born in the southern countryside of Montreal, into a family of 10 children. His parents died while he was a child and due to his deep spirituality, his parish priest presented him to the Congregation of the Holy Cross to become a vowed brother.
At the age of 28, Brother André made his permanent vows and was assigned a position as porter at Notre-Dame College in Montreal. Durocher said Brother André also worked as a receptionist and a janitor after school hours.
According to the Vatican and the priests who were close to Brother André, he found a great attachment to Saint-Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father and recommended to the people he met to pray to God through the intersection of St. Joseph. He would entrust the sick people to St. Joseph’s prayers and often, they people would become suddenly healed, many of them poor people from Montreal.
Durocher said Brother André performed many of his healings during the depression and “hundreds of people would line up all day to have a few minutes of his time.” Brother André gave psychological and spiritual strength to those he met and never claimed to have any special powers.
Along with financial contributions from the people he helped and the support of the Archbishop of Montreal, Brother André dedicated a shrine to St. Joseph. In 1924, the construction began and it would become the Oratory of Saint-Joseph, the largest of its kind in North America.
Brother André died in 1937 at the age of 91 and a million people visited his coffin while it was on display near the St. Joseph’s Oratory.
He are the steps and the reasons why Brother André will be canonized a saint:
- A local bishop investigates the candidate’s life and the writings to find evidence of virtue and then the information is sent to the Vatican.
- The Vatican evaluates the candidate’s life and the information they receive.
- The Pope must proclaim that the candidate is venerable; that he is/was a role model for Catholic virtues.
- Beatification: in 1982, Pope John Paul II declared Brother André “blessed,” with his feast day fixed to January 6. In order to be beatified, the candidate must be shown responsible for a posthumous miracle. The miracle supporting this declaration dates to 1958, when a man was cured of cancer after praying to him.
- And finally, there must be proof of a second posthumous miracle. At the request of the person who was cured, the second posthumous miracle supporting the canonization was not made public.
In order to attend the celebration, the public are being asked to register with their local parish. Durocher said all types of religious faiths are allowed to attend, adding that it is not only Catholics who visit the Saint-Joseph Oratory.
Anyone can go to the celebration by their own means on October 30.
The price for a seat is $5 and it starts at 2 p.m.