Today is the feast day of St. André Bessette, a religious whose devotion to a favored saint eventually led to the construction of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal. 

Brother André, as he was known, is also famous for the thousands of cures attributed to his prayerful intervention. 

This “miracle man of Montreal” emerged from humble stock, one of a dozen children born to a poor family in a small town in Quebec. 

Orphaned at age 12, his search for work took him for a while to textile mills in New England.

He later returned to Canada and joined the Congregation of the Holy Cross. For 40 years, he worked as a porter and began to minister to the sick, whom he prayerfully entrusted to the intervention of St. Joseph. 

So dedicated was Brother André to his flock, the story goes, that he once turned down a chance to meet the visiting king of England. Brother André’s reason: He was too busy taking care of the sick.

That kind of pastoral heart makes a deep impact on people. In fact, one million people turned out for his funeral in January 1937 amid harsh Canadian weather.

Brother André’s personal contact with the needy is a stellar example of Gospel charity—a great example for those of us living in a screen-saturated age when face-to-face encounters seem fewer and further apart. 

This feast day might be a good moment to call to mind the need to keep the personal touch in our relationships. 

We might do that by focusing on the healing power of Jesus—perhaps through our retreat guide called Miracles of Mercy—and the way he dealt with people on a personal basis. 

Jesus is one King whom Brother André would have made time for.

In Christ,

Father Edward McIlmail, LC