lastpointe

May God grant unto Brother Andre eternal peace. May perpetual light shine upon  him. Amen.

I believe perhaps you didn't hear the whole story. I hope this may be of help.

Quote - Toronto Star

Brother André's case for sainthood led by man of science

 

Andre is believed to have performed miracles while alive, healing the lame and terminally ill. The Roman Catholic Church is now satisfied — to the best of its investigative capability — that André also gave graces and made “intercessions” after his death, which is the core requirement to achieve sainthood. Pope Benedict XVI will on Sunday formally proclaim the brother St. André.

 

The laborious procedure took André through the all the interim stages: servant of God, venerable and blessed (beatification). That last phase also necessitated a confirmed miracle — André’s healing of a man who suffered from cancer.

 

His canonization arises from a separate 1999 case of a nine-year-old boy, left in an irreversible coma following an automobile accident, whose family prayed specifically to André to save the child. And that happened, fast.

 

“Here was someone who was considered dead and one week later he was playing with his Nintendo. You cannot explain this by science.’’

 

For Lachapelle, science and faith can co-exist comfortably.

 

With Brother André, there were actually four separate “healings’’ that were considered for the Curia tribunal and appeared to meet all the criteria. “We picked this one because it was the most spectacular — not only because the person survived but the speed of his recovery.’’

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/874823--dimanno-long-winding-road-to-sainthood

 

Miracles happen every day; even Brother André's close shave ( a lady who knew him)

 

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/875726--dimanno-brother-andre-s-miraculous-close-shave

 

Documentary

Brother André Bessette - God's Doorkeeper - Official Trailer

 

video

 

 

I was once interviewed for TV at the Oratory. This was a good fifteen years ago, so I expect it was in the early stages of the investigation. Seated beside me was the Vatican investigator.

When asked about my opinion of his miracles, I said that Frere Andre was a very simple-minded man, almost the village idiot. That was why he could never become a priest, and was simply a doorkeeper at a school across from the oratory. His wax effigy, kept in a duplicate of his tiny "office" and bedroom had an open Bible on it - though Andre was illiterate.

But he was born into a Quebec society that was a frenzy of religious devotion. I grew up in the middle of it, in a district 98% Catholic. Montreal,  was a tumult of prostitution, gambling,all run by the mob. And in that tumult,there was a frenzy of religion. It lasted into the fifties; and they cut out Brother Andre's heart when he died, and put it in a bottle of alcohol on display in the oratory. People touched the bottle and swore they felt his heart beating. (I didn't.)

I think it was those decades of frenzy that created Brother Andre.

As I said that, I glanced nervously at the Vatican investigator. He was smiling and nodding.

I have a great-uncle two or three times removed who is going through the investigation process.  But it's too late. The church is dead in French Quebec. The biggest Catholic church in the Montreal region is now an English one.

I think you are right Graeme. The canonization of Andre was done to help revive the church in Quebec. Too little, too late. They didn't have the fast-track process back when he died, otherwise he would have been canonized much sooner.

 According to StatsCanada, there are in Quebec:

Of those Christians, 90% are French Roman Catholic. Only 1% are UCC. Even if most French Catholics are non-practicing, they still outnumber the English. The gap between practicing numbers in Montreal may not be as lopsided, but I doubt the English prevail.

The only time I have heard of brother Andre' was from my father who is Catholic. He told me of a time when brother Andre' was interviewed by the Bishop at that time and was told to stop deceiving people with these so called miracles, supposedly the dear Bishop was unable to get out of his chair after that exchange.

I find these so called miracles hard to believe but when in  discussion  with my father on these matters I just nod politely.

I don't doubt that these "miracles" happened, but they are just ordinary faith healings or psychological healings.

According to some estimates, about half of all illnesses are either psychosomatic or in some way influenced by the psyche. The psyche that renders its body ill can also render it well, all it takes is a powerful enough belief in the cure and a flood of endorphins.

[quote=Arminius]

I don't doubt that these "miracles" happened, but they are just ordinary faith healings or psychological healings.

I think you're right-- there is no need to distinguish-- body and mind are very closely connected.  Does God work the miracle by zapping the  ill person, from the outside as it were, or by giving them hope that they can get better and have a reason to get better?  I don't think it really matters which. 

There was this article I read once about how people having religious experiences during an MRI have this "God center" light up in their brains.   Secular people would say they are experiencing God because the center was lit up (it could have been the 'I smell burnt toast' part instead) others think they are experiencing God and so that part of their brain is lit up.  Or maybe God communicates with us directly.   It doesn't matter to me if someone hiding in another bush saw Moses talking to a talking burning bush or if they just saw Moses raving at a perfectly content and unconsumed silent bush. 

revjames - The only area that I know of where English dominated was a parish that I lived in, a suburban parish. (My wife is Catholic.) The priest once mentioned to me with pride that it was the largest Catholic congregation in the region, regardless of language. But you're right, of course, The total of nominal Catholics is overwhelmingly French.

I'm shocked at the shrinkage of the Jewish community. Most of them are (or were) anglos because for some seventy years, the French (and English) Catholic schools wouldn't accept them. So they had to go to the English Protestant schools. I would guess that a very large number must have left Quebec. That's too bad because Quebec will lose some wonderful institutions that were established by Montreal Jews - among them two exceptional public libraries (very active and busy with a wide range of activities), a fine theatre.  The synagogues, too, were active places of socializing and serious discussion.

The first time I went to the oratory, there were enormous crowds jostling each other as they shuffled by relics, and touched the mounds of discarded crutches. I used to see people on the coldest days of winter going up that long, outdoor flight of stone steps on their knees, saying a prayer on each step. The last time I went, it was empty, silent and dim.

It's strange. There are only two characteristics of Montreal that I miss. One is the Jewish community. The other is the intellectual liveliness of the synagogues.

Cote St Luc still is a predominately Jewish neighbourhood. The English public high  school there Wagar closed because the Jewish private schools had taken most of the students. The Jewish community moved to Toronto to the point that Wagar's last reunion was held in Toronto.