St. Brother André (originally Alfred Bessette) became Canada’s 11th saint, and its first native-born male saint, in an Oct. 17 canonization ceremony presided over by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. The Montreal event served as a means for the faithful to gather in celebration on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

As Turcotte described the humble miracle man in his lengthy sermon, the crowd broke out into applause again and again.

“His life is an invitation to ourselves to become people of active listening, people of compassion, people of service and people of prayer,” Turcotte said.

St. Brother André was renowned for his healing ways, becoming known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal” for the great numbers of people whose ailments disappeared after visiting the doorman at Montreal’s Notre Dame College.

At ground level, youth from parishes across the Montreal archdiocese, handicapped guests, dignitaries including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, and other special invitees, enjoyed a close-up look at the impressive gathering of nearly 60 bishops and numerous priests.

Brother André’s heart was processed to the front and placed below the altar.

Symbols representative of the saint, including crutches, oil, candles and a statue of St. Joseph’s Oratory, which he was instrumental in building, were also brought forward.

“I am so proud to be a part of the Bessette family because of everything he did for people, all the good, even though he had poor health,” said Jeannine Menard Landrix, a distant relative who attended the stadium Mass, and who like most, had to contend with a distant bird’s-eye view of the proceedings.

Many pilgrims, like Landrix, admitted they had never met Brother André, but developed a devotion for the man from the stories passed down from parents or grandparents who knew him well or experienced miraculous answers to their prayers after visiting him.

“According to my father and my mother, he was an extraordinary man,” said Ginette Daigneault of Montreal. “The celebration was touching.”

The two-hour Mass included music from Montreal’s Petit Chanteurs and Quebec singer Chantal Pary. Sounds from an enormous bell, from the first chapel built on Mount Royal, resounded in the stadium as the celebration began.

Adele Gaudet, a student missionary at the University of Laval, said it was exciting to see Quebec students embracing the faith through this event.

“It was great, it was really nice to see — it shows that youth do want to get involved and they are seeing the importance of the Church and Brother André is great for that because he’s someone that their grandparents may have known, that they can look to as a very promising example,” she said.

(Girard is a freelance writer in Ottawa.)