Old Testement

Saint Andre Bassette

André Bessette, c.s.c. also called Blessed Brother Andre, (French: Frère André) was born (Alfred Bessette) on August 9, 1845 . He was a Holy Cross Brother and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous healings. He gained a reputation as the miracle man of Montreal but always attributed the healings to the intercession of St, Joseph He was declared venerable in 1978 and was beatified in 1982. Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Blessed Andre on Friday, February 19, 2010, with formal canonization scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2010.

His great confidence in Saint Joseph inspired him to recommend this saint's devotion to all those who were afflicted in various ways. On his many visits to the sick in their homes, he would recommend them in prayer to St. Joseph, and would anoint them lightly with oil from the lamp in the college chapel, which always burned before the St. Joseph altar. People claimed that they had been cured through the prayers of the good Brother and Saint Joseph, and they were grateful their prayers had been heard. Brother André steadfastly refused to take any credit for these cures, attributing them to St. Joseph. Because he wanted St. Joseph to be honored, in 1904 Bessette began the campaign to erect a chapel to honor the saint. In 1924 he inaugurated the great oratory of St. Joseph, which was not completed till the 1950’s. Brother Andre died in 1937, at the age of 91. A million people filed past his coffin. The great Oratory of St. Joseph on Mount Royal draws millions of pilgrims every year. He was declared venerable in 1978 and was beatified in 1982 by Pope John Paul II. After a miraculous healing was medically proven through his intercession, Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood for Blessed Andre on Friday, February 19, 2010, with formal canonization scheduled for Sunday, October 17, 2010.

On top of his portrait is a flaming dove that represents the Holy Spirit that inspired Brother Andre in all his works. Cascading downward from the Holy Spirit is a fire like ribbon that represent the grace poured out on Brother Andre. The twenty light blue circles dispersed throughout the print represent the twenty mysteries of the rosary, which Brother Andre contemplated everyday. Above his portrait on each side of the print are two circles each containing the six-pointed star of the Old Testament and the eight-pointed star of the New Testament both of which speak of and point to the one Word of God – Jesus. On the bottom right of the window is an oval containing the image of the great oratory of St. Joseph, On the bottom left of the print is an oval containing the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On either side is his portrait are two lilies that represent his virginal purity and childlike simplicity.

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