In May 2003, one year after that blessed event, I returned to Montreal to thank Brother André for the graces of World Youth Day, as well as entrusting to him the new adventure of Salt + Light Television. I am convinced that Blessed André has interceded for us many times over the past seven years.

In Brother André, a frail, humble consecrated brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross, God’s strength and might were revealed to the world. It was through his efforts, suffering and faith that a little chapel on a hillside of Mount Royal was transformed into the great basilica that now dominates the spiritual landscape of Montreal and Canada. St. Joseph’s Oratory, the world’s largest shrine dedicated to St. Joseph, rose up from a dream of Brother André.

“Pauper, servus et umilis” are the Latin words inscribed above Brother André’s tomb at the Oratory. The translation: Poor, servant and humble. Those same words are sung in the “Panis Angelicus,” the magnificent hymn about the Eucharist.

Who can say why Brother André was chosen?

In a beautiful circular letter to the Holy Cross family earlier this year, former Holy Cross Superior General Fr. Hugh Cleary wrote: “… perhaps André was chosen, like Mary and Joseph, because in the eyes of this world he was no one; he possessed nothing, nothing possessed him … God possessed him giving him what he cared for most, giving him fulfillment to the deepest longing of his heart.”

As porter at the College Notre-Dame, Brother André performed menial tasks. He gathered firewood, washed floors and windows and, each morning, rang the wake-up bell before cleaning rooms and collecting mail at the post office.

Brother André urged people to pray with confidence and perseverance while remaining open to God’s will. He admonished people to begin their path to healing through commitments to faith and humility, through confession and a return to the sacraments. He encouraged the sick to seek a doctor’s care. He saw value in suffering that is joined to the sufferings of Christ. He allowed himself to be fully present to the sadness of others but always retained a joyful nature and good humour. At times, he wept along with his visitors as they recounted their sorrows. As he became known as a miracle worker, Brother André insisted, “I am nothing... only a tool in the hands of Providence, a lowly instrument at the service of St. Joseph.”

Religious brothers offer invaluable service to God’s people, though their service is lesser known in our Church. There is a sense that they are our peers, living and working among us as companions on our journey of faith. They are examples of how actions in our daily lives can in themselves be holy.

Brother André was a true expert and artisan of communion who lived and worked in our midst and was a companion to so many people on their journey of faith. His vocation as a religious lay brother was a gracious and mysterious gift of God. His witnessing was prophetic, radical, visible, effective, credible and joyful.

As an adult, Brother André stood just five feet tall. But he was a giant of faith and spirituality whose shadow still hovers over Montreal and Canada. He shows us what can be achieved through faith and love. In the humble porter’s own words, “It is with the smallest brushes that the artists paint the most beautiful pictures.”

The Church, particularly St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, is a door to salvation, the portal to the Kingdom of God. The Lord worked through Brother André’s doubts and infirmities, giving him strength, perseverance and human ingenuity to build a magnificent church and thereby build up the Church.

Each day we enter and leave by so many doors without ever noticing. We all remember the stories from our grandparents about a time when “no one locked their doors.” Now we live in an age of deadbolts and alarm systems. The doors of our homes and churches don’t seem to swing open quite so easily or as often as they used to. We must find ways to open the doors of our homes, our hearts and our churches to all who need us.

Brother André opened doors. He was Montreal’s porter and now he is one of heaven’s special gatekeepers. He teaches us to be sensitive and welcoming to all who knock on our doors. May he continue to inspire us to open doors and build bridges to the people whom the Lord sends us each day, especially those who are sick, broken, poor and lonely. May St. André of Montreal make us instruments of healing, friendship, joy and peace.

(Fr. Rosica is C.E.O. of Salt + Light Catholic Media Foundation and a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.)

 

 

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