Anyone who has experienced the cold of a Quebec winter, where the wind whipping up the St. Lawrence Valley will chill the bones of even the hardiest of souls and it is a given that the mighty St. Lawrence will freeze over, can be forgiven for thinking a mild winter in this part of Canada is a myth.

It was eight years ago this week that Canada’s Br. André Bessette was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. The humble Holy Cross brother who was instrumental in the construction of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal died Jan. 6, 1937 at the age of 91. Over his remarkable life and in the years since, he has been credited with many miraculous healings. During the six days after his death, up to a million people filed past his coffin, surrounded by hundreds of crutches and canes from pilgrims who attested to his gifts. Here is an excerpt from The Register of Jan. 21, 1937:

---

In a remote fishing village, the people became accustomed to the pounding of the heavy seas which imperiled every boat leaving their harbour, but they never could become accustomed to the deaths. The deaths of fishermen caught in the grip of an uncompromising ocean in the dead of night. 

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 1 (Year B) Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24; Psalm 30; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15; Mark 5:21-43

EDMONTON – Charbel Fadel is, in most ways, like any other two-year-old boy. He can’t sit still. He likes soccer. He gives high-fives to anyone who asks.

VATICAN – On Tuesday the Congregation for the Causes of Saints approved the second miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Pope Paul VI, allowing his canonization to take place, possibly later this year.

Fr. Peter Turrone went to Montreal’s St. Joseph’s Oratory to thank the patron saint for the blessings received this year at the Newman chaplaincy and parish. What he didn’t expect was to leave with even more to be thankful for.

The only miracle that Jesus performed recounted in all four Gospels is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, more commonly called the feeding of the 5,000 (or 4,000 in Mark’s Gospel, but who was counting precisely?).  

He is risen! Truly, He is risen! We have just begun our celebration of the most incredible miracle of all time — the miracle of Easter.

TORONTO – The statistical probabilities behind praying your way out of stage-four cancer aren’t good. When you’re too skinny, too weak and hallucinating half the time, when friends and family come round to your house and just cry, when unsmiling doctors want to talk to you in the quiet, pastel-coloured room at the end of the hall — you don’t make any long-term plans.

VATICAN CITY – In an effort to ensure transparency as well as historical and scientific accuracy, Pope Francis has approved revised norms for the Congregation for Saints' Causes regarding medical consultations on healings alleged to be miracles.

MARKHAM, ONT. – The Holy Eucharist is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. This is the great mystery upon which the Catholic Church is built. But when there are more than 170 verified eucharistic miracles around the world, one may wonder if it is as mysterious as it first seems. 

Body and Blood of Christ (Year C) May 29 (Genesis 14:18-20; Psalm 10; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 9:11b-17)

God has always been at work in the most unlikely places and individuals. The strange story of Abram (Abraham before his name change) receiving a blessing from King Melchizedek of Salem stirs up a lot of questions.