From: "Waldtraud" 

March 20th - St. Brother Andrew
Miracle-Worker, Apostle of Saint Joseph

(1845-1937)

Little Alfred Bessette, born at St. Grégoire, Quebec on August 9, 1845, had his
roots in our own soil. The future Saint Brother Andrew of Mount Royal was a son
of this land and of the French Canadian family. The infant was baptized
conditionally the day after his birth in the village "church",
which at that time was a stone house serving as the only sacred dwelling.
He was so frail that
his parents had "undulated" him immediately after his birth.

Since the family was poor, they went four years later to Farnham, where the
father could earn his living more readily. One fatal day he went with the
lumberjacks to the forest and, as Brother Andrew would say later, "the
tree he
was cutting became locked in the branches of another, and my unfortunate father
was crushed to death." The child was nine years old and remembered
that his mother "remained as though frozen". A widow with ten
children, she scarcely recovered from the shock of the accident. She
"faded away" and died three years
later of tuberculosis, at the age of 43. "I rarely prayed for my mother, but I
have often prayed to her," Brother Andrew used to say.

Then the family was scattered. Alfred at the age of twelve had to face
life, using his initiative. For him began, then, thirteen years of a
wandering life
which would take him even to the United States, looking for work. An orphan
without schooling, he had to search where he should go and how to survive.
Like
many boys from large families, he had to leave school at thirteen or fourteen
years and earn his bread. And it was also because of his uncertain health and
lack of money that he could never undertake prolonged studies. His mother had
given him something of her own knowledge, but it was only with great difficulty
that he finally learned to sign his name and to read a little. He had only his
two arms to offer an employer as guarantee, but despite his frail health, he put
his whole heart into his work. He himself said later: "In spite of my weakness,
I didn't let myself be outdone by the others at work."

After he entered the Community of the Holy Cross as a lay Brother, he spent
forty years washing the floors and windows, cleaning the lamps, entering
the firewood, acting as porter and commissioner. Then, for more than
twenty-five years, he received visitors in his little office - during six
to eight hours a
day, in all kinds of weather, and this until the age of 91. One day he was asked
how he had managed to live so long with so little health. With humor he
explained his recipe for health: "By eating as little as possible and
working as
much as possible..."

An immense work was being realized; crowds which became increasingly dense were
pressing to the Oratory of Saint Joseph, for which heaven had chosen him as
founder. The great skeleton of the largest sanctuary in the world dedicated
to
Saint Joseph could already be seen rising on the hilltop. And yet Brother Andrew
never talked of "my work... my project." On the contrary: "I
am nothing, only a
tool in the hands of Providence, a poor instrument of Saint Joseph."
"The good
Lord took me to humiliate the others. He took the most ignorant one to humiliate
the people and the Community of the Holy Cross. If there had been one more
ignorant than myself, God would have chosen him instead."

What care he showed in receiving and meeting people! He spent long hours in the
office where thousands came to see him. And Brother Andrew remarked one day: "It
is astonishing! They often ask me for cures, but rarely for humility and
the spirit of faith. Yet these are so important. If the soul is sick, we
have to begin by caring for the soul. Do you have faith? Do you believe the
good Lord
can do something for you? Go and make your confession, go and receive Communion,
then come back to see me." Such were the words that always returned to his lips,
when he was asked for favors and cures. If he suggested making a novena to Saint
Joseph, to use the oil or a medal of Saint Joseph, it was because "those were as
many acts of love and faith, confidence and humility." In general, he encouraged
the people to see doctors; sometimes he wept with those who were suffering. But
he never ceased to say, "How good the good Lord is! God loves you. God
is love."
And Brother Andrew knew how to bring forth sprouts of hope in the hearts of
those he met.

In the night of January 5-6, 1937, an old Brother 91 years old was dying in a
modest room of Saint Laurent Hospital, in a suburb of Montreal. The few persons
present at his bedside felt, however, that from this little man came an
impression of strength, humanity, and moral power such as they had never
known
before. The dying man moved his head a little: "The great Almighty One
is coming..." Then he raised his eyes to heaven... "O Mary, my
sweet Mother and Mother of my Jesus, deign to help me!" Finally, they
heard a few words scarcely
intelligible, which were repeated again and again: "Saint Joseph, Saint Joseph,
Saint Joseph..." At 12:50 AM, Brother Andrew breathed his last. The news of his
decease was quickly relayed, and the following morning, all of Quebec knew that
Brother Andrew was dead.

"He spent his life talking to others about God and to God of
others," a friend
said. This testimony gives a just appreciation of what his life was, filled with
faith and love.

Reflection. In every age the Catholic Church is a missionary church. She
has received the world for her inheritance, and in our own days many
missionaries
have watered with their blood the lands where they labored. Help the propagation
of the faith by both alms and by prayers. You will strengthen your own faith and
participate in the merits of the glorious apostolate.

Source: Gerald Champagne, E.C., Nos Gloires de l'Église du Canada, extracts, pp.
78-81. Translation O.D.M.


Saint Quote:
Even the death on the Cross was sublime: for it was the culminating and
necessary point in that scheme of Love in which death was to be followed by
blessed resurrection for the whole "lump" of humanity: and the
Cross itself has
a mystic meaning.
-Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Bible Quote:
12 And on the next day, a great multitude that was to come to the festival day,
when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 Took branches of palm
trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh
in the name of the Lord, the king of Israel.  (John 12:12-13)



The second sorrowful mystery prayer of the Eucharistic Rosary, to be
offered before the Blessed Sacrament:

The Scourging of our Lord at the pillar, offered for penitence and mortification:

O good Jesus! scourged and covered with wounds, the sins committed by men
against the  holy virtue of purity thus torture Thy innocent flesh; and in 
the Blessed Sacrament impure hearts insult Thee by their sacrilegious 
communions.

O Thou bloody Victim, scourged at the pillar, patient Victim abused in the
Sacrament, we adore Thee and we beg of Thee, through the intercession of
Thy holy Mother the grace of mortifying our senses.

Imprimatur:  + John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York, Sept 19, 1908.




Prayer For and To the Holy Souls: Crown of Thorns

O Most Holy Wounds,
that covered Our Lord.
That cost Him so much suffering;
Have mercy on the
Poor Souls in Purgatory,
and have mercy on me,
a wretched sinner.

Then say 50 times:
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon
them, may they rest in peace. Amen.

O Holy Souls,
who left this world and
are awaited eagerly in Heaven,
have mercy on me,
and ask for all the
graces I need.

Then say 50 times:
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon
them, may they rest in peace. Amen.

--- BBBS/LiI v4.01 Flag