Honoring Saint Andre Bessette of Montreal

 I visited the Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada. I was awed by the story of Saint Brother Andre Bessette. He was recently canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on February 19, 2010.  He was a very humble man, a true servant of God, who prayed to St. Joseph for healing of those who came to him for prayer.  He said, "You should have more confidence in Saint Joseph. Many sick people would be healed if they persevered longer.  Go and pray before the statue of Saint Joseph; tell him, ' Saint Joseph, pray for me as you would have prayed if you were on earth, in my place."   There I saw hundreds of crutches left by those who were miraculously healed through Saint Bro. Andre's intercessory prayers to Saint Joseph.  In 1904, he built a chapel in honor of St. Joseph, then in 1924, the Oratory of St. Joseph started construction.  Another inspiring relic was the heart of Saint Andre. It was preserved inside a chamber, and I could visibly see his heart.

I am inspired to pray to Saint Joseph more and more.  There was a prayer I saw that struck me as well, the Memorare to Saint Joseph (see picture).

Though seemingly impossible, we are all called to holiness. The saints and martyrs who have gone before us showed us how God's grace have allowed them to live such a life devoted to our Lord.

Crutches left by those miraculously healed

I quote from Matthew Kelly, author of Rediscovering Catholicism,"In any moment, when you surrender to the will of God and choose to be the-best-version-of-yourself, you are holy.”  “Striving for holiness, is to be continually answering God’s invitation to grasp the moments of our lives and allow God to use them to transform us into all he has created us to be.”

The challenge for us everyday is to choose to be the best version of ourselves.  It might sound as a simplistic approach to holiness, but looking at how the saints lived their lives, they indeed lived out the best version of themselves by surrending to the will of God.

Where the heart of St. Brother Andre Bessette's is placed

Like Saint Brother Andre Bessette, he simply did what a humble servant of God does and did it with the best version of himself. Here's an account of the tasks he did:

The Oratory of St. Joseph of Mount Royal

André was given the task of porter (doorman) at Notre Dame College in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec. He fulfilled this function for some forty years while at the same time doing innumerable odd jobs for the community. At the end of his life, he would joke that when he came, he was shown the door, and stayed for forty years. In addition to his duties as receptionist, his tasks included washing floors and windows, cleaning lamps, bringing in firewood and carrying messages (wikipedia).

Lord, help us to be the best version of ourselves. Give us the grace to answer and follow the call to holiness like your servant Saint Andre Bessette.  This we pray through the intercession of St. Joseph and St. Andre, amen.