INTRODUCTION
In each issue as we countdown toward the new millennium, we are bringing you the countdown of the TOP 100 CATHOLICS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY as voted upon by the readers. We will spotlight each of the 100 Top Catholics chosen by readers over a three month period of time earlier this year. We received a total of 23,455 votes nominating 728 candidates for "Top 100 Catholics of the 20th Century" consideration. The top five vote-getters garnered 9,477 with the top ten registering a total 13,470. The Top 100 chosen received 21,603 votes with those 628 candidates not making the list receiving 8% of the vote.
Caliber-wise in the final tally, DAILY CATHOLIC readers made excellent choices and there is a good balance throughout the century list. Eight of the nine Roman Pontiffs of this century made the list except for Pope John Paul I whose pontificate lasted only one month. There are five Saints and six Blesseds as well as seven whose cause for Beatification has been introduced to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The voters selected fifteen cardinals, seven bishops, nineteen priests, seven nuns and two lay brothers. The laity is well represented with four entertainers, four politicians, six renowned secular authors, and numerous dynamic Marian luminaries that have proved their worth through the fruits they have produced by their efforts. Education checks in with several who made the list in all aspects of scholastics including two university presidents and the pro-life movement also has several organizers who made the list as well as well-known leaders of various Catholic non-profit organizations dedicated to upholding the truths of the Church.
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40. Blessed Andre Bessette
The voters chose as the 40th selection Blessed Andre Bessette, the Holy Cross Brother who is credited with countless cures and is the founder of the largest Oratory church in North America - the Shrine of Saint Joseph in Montreal, Canada. Deeply loved while he was alive, he has been even more revered after his death when Pope John Paul II beatified "Frere Andre" on May 23, 1982 along with Blessed Marie-Rose Durocher, both of whom were given feast days - the latter just last Wednesday, October 6th and Blessed Andre on the former Feast of the Epiphany - January 6th, the anniversary of his death sixty-two years ago.
Blessed Andre Bessette was born during the pontificate of Pope Gregory XVI on August 9, 1845 into a family of twelve in a small village a half-hour southeast of Montreal. As a young child he was imbued with a deep love for the Holy Family and for the Church. One night he had a dream of a magnificent church, unlike he had ever seen before and he never forgot that vivid image. At the age of twelve young Andre became an orphan when his parents died. Instilled with the faith by his mother and father, he overcame feelings of self-pity and even gave of himself so much to forego his own education in order to help care for his brothers and sisters by working in mills and farms in New England before returning to Montreal in 1870. At the age of 25 he joined the Holy Cross Order as a Lay Brother. Never educated and of poor health, Andre did not let that deter him from fulfilling God's Will in the simplest of ways. Though he was first rejected by the Holy Cross Fathers after his novitiate, the Bishop of Montreal intervened and suggested that he become a lay brother with the Congregation.
Though he was disappointed, he was an obedient soul and rather than feeling sorry for himself committed his life to God. For the next 67 years he devoted himself to the menial, but spiritually rewarding jobs of porter and gardener as a Holy Cross Lay Brother. He also set about making that dream he had experienced as a young boy become a reality. Through the grace of God it did and also through the grace of God those who came in contact with this holy man were cured and word quickly spread of his fame. While he was helping build the shrine to Saint Joseph in Montreal - St. Joseph's Oratory, he contined as porter at the College of Notre Dame in that Canadian city. For 40 years he held this responsibility until demand was so great for Brother Andre to be at the shrine that the Holy Cross Order transferred him over there.
Millions of pilgrims flooded the shrine with countless cures physically and spiritually occurring regularly when they came in contact with this holy, humble man of God. They flocked to him for spiritual direction and he constantly told the faithful, "It is St. Joseph who cures. I am only his little dog." But he and all those who were drawn to him realized that God reveals His Power and lets it shine through our human frailties. He received over 80,000 letters a year and insisted on corresponding with the people, but could not read or write and so he dictated the letters, many through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to a plethora of secretaries hired to handle the phenomenal responses to Blessed Andre. Through word of mouth and devotion, this shrine has since become the most well-known shrine to the protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster father of Jesus in the world.
Today, this magnificent monument to Saint Joseph, which took 50 years to build, remains the highest building in Montreal rising high above the skyline on the outskirts of the cosmopolitan city of Montreal and serves not only as a shrine to Mary's spouse but as a concrete reminder of the fortitude and dedication of a simple, uneducated lay brother who was the best he can be for the Lord. When asked by the media upon its completion how he did it, he humbly replied, "Personally, I am nothing. God chose the most ignorant one. If there is anyone more ignorant than I am, the good God would have chosen him." In actuality, it is doubtful God would have found a more obedient, humble soul than Brother Andre.
It was already the best known in North America when Brother Andre succumbed of old age at 92 on January 6, 1937 during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI. Reports are that over one million mourners, both French and English-speaking Canadians, ascended the steep slopes to St. Joseph's Oratory for his funeral in the snow and sleet of a bitter January day to pay their homage to this living saint who had won the hearts of all Canada and much of America. Eighteen years after his death in 1955 Pope Pius XII allowed the Oratory to be solemnly dedicated and declared a minor basilica. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982 and his canonization is expected within the next ten years. When he does become a saint it will be no surprise to those who remember his miraculous ways and no surprise to all those he helped get to Heaven who are, no doubt, helping the angels prepare a higher place in Heaven for this special saint to-be. Knowing the way Blessed Andre lived his life, he no doubt will turn down a higher mansion, happy to just be in the presence of the Holy Family forever.
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