St. Andr honoured in Montreal

The rarely used Olympic Stadium in Montreal became a spiritual home for thousands of people on Saturday as they honoured the recently canonized St. Andr Bessette.

[MAGE]Mike Budge of Ottawa arrived in Montreal after organizing 10 buses, about 560 people in all, from dioceses in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

"Most of the pilgrims said they couldn't sleep because they were so excited," Budge said in an interview. "I couldn't sleep. "I think most of the people grew up with Brother Andr or their parents grew up with Brother Andr. My aunt was cured by Brother Andr back in 1930."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Quebec Premier Jean Charest also attended the event, which was held about two weeks after the lay brother was elevated to sainthood at a Vatican ceremony.

"For many, his life is an example of how faith can move mountains," Harper said in a statement. "For others, he is a source of profound inspiration. We all recognize that he was a great man, a great Quebecer and a great Canadian."

The once-powerful Roman Catholic Church is no longer the force it once was in Quebec, particularly among younger people, and most of those at the stadium appeared to be middle-aged or elderly.

"I like to be with other people who have the faith," said Alice Monette, whose grandfather used to deliver mail to the saint.

Monette said she doesn't believe the canonization and Saturday's ceremony will revive the church in Quebec.

"It is a good event to be together," she said. "I think it's a great event for that, but I don't think it will help bring people back to the church."

Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, the archbishop of Montreal, read the homily and said he was celebrating the "Olympic medal of canonization."

"St. Brother Andr, an impressive gathering from every origin has come to praise God as you join the company of the blessed and of the saints," Turcotte told the gathering.

The lay brotherdied at age 91 on Jan. 6, 1937. During the six days and nights before his funeral, more than one million people filed past his casket.

The drive for his canonization dated back to 1940, when it was started by the Archdiocese of Montreal and the Congregation of Holy Cross and St. Joseph's Oratory.

A 4,000-page document was submitted to the Vatican in 1948 to petition for his sainthood. He was declared "venerable" by Pope Paul VI in 1978, and beatified,declared "blessed," by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Pope Benedict announced his canonization in February after recognizing a second miracle attributed to St. Andr.

The cleric was born Alfred Bessette on Aug. 9, 1845, in St-Grgoire-d'Iberville, and orphaned when he was 12 years old. Before joining the Congregation of Holy Cross as a lay brotherin 1870, he worked in the textile mills of the northeastern United States.

Once he took his vows, he gave comfort to people who came to him at Collge Notre-Dame for solace, and many credited him with curing their illnesses.

He founded St. Joseph's Oratory in 1904, although it was a modest chapel and far from the grand landmark that looms over Montreal today. He was named the Oratory's guardian in 1909.

St. Andr follows in the footsteps of Marguerite d'Youville, who was born in 1701 and was the first saint born on Canadian territory.

Canada's other saints are Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was born in France in 1620 and is considered the co-founder of Montreal, and eight French-born Jesuit martyrs who were killed during wars in the 1640s.