Saint Andre Bessette

Brother André was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23rd, 1982, and declared for sainthood by Pope Benedict XVI on February 19, 2010.
At his canonization in October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI said that St. Andre "lived the beatitude of the pure of heart."

Miracle Man
Often while running errands around town Brother André would stop to visit with those he heard were sick. When many with whom he prayed soon recovered, word of his healing abilities began to spread far and wide. Soon the sick began to arrive in great numbers at the College where Brother André would meet them in his small office near the front door. However, as the numbers multiplied, his superiors, as well as the parents of the children attending the school, began to have great concern. After all, many of those seeking cures had contagious diseases that presented a health threat to the school’s student-body.

As a compromise, Brother André was allowed to meet the sick in a small tramway station across the street. Here the frail brother would spend as many as six to eight hours a day receiving those who came to seek his healing prayers.

Though he was becoming quite renowned as a miracle worker, Brother André vehemently rejected such a title, stating: “I am nothing…only a tool in the hands of Providence, a lowly instrument at the service of Saint Joseph.” He stated further: “People are silly to think that I can accomplish miracles! It is God and Saint Joseph who can heal you, not I. I will pray to Saint Joseph for you.”

Brother André presented the sick with a medal of Saint Joseph and would also anoint the sick with oil that came from an oil-lamp burning in the College’s chapel next to a statue of Saint Joseph. Again, in anointing the sick, Brother André would insist that the hoped-for healing was the work of Saint Joseph and not himself.