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Frequent reference has been made to the magnitude of the funeral that followed the death of Brother André, on January 6, 1937. For an entire week, hundreds of thousands of people came to pay their respects and attend the funeral in the burning chapel of the Oratory’s crypt. The crowd was so large that it could take up to four hours to reach the coffin. And you couldn’t linger for long in front of Brother André’s body. According to reports from that time, there were 110 visitors per minute! ¹

C’est Noël! Les lumières colorées scintillent. Les familles et les amis se donnent rendez-vous pour célébrer.

Il est là, l’Enfant auprès de Marie et de Joseph. Il est là, l’Enfant de la sainte nuit, nuit de paix et d’espoir.

On January 1, 1924, two Oratory employees, Édouard Barsalo and Napoléon Carrières, had a pious idea: to start the new year off right by making a night pilgrimage from Mile-End to the Oratory, arriving on time for the first mass of the year, at 6 a.m. From this initiative, a tradition that has lasted over 80 years was born!

By the time you read this blog, the bells of the carillon and the consoles (keyboards and pedals) will have reached their destination, the Paccard foundry, in France.

In November, the landscape is stripped away to settle gently into the white silence of winter. A privileged moment to remember our dearly departed ones who have migrated to infinity, to another life. In November, it is these loved ones who inhabit our memory and our hope.

In 1957, Rudolf von Beckerath installed a 44-stop organ in the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio. He then made a trip to Montreal, at the invitation of organists Kenneth Gilbert, Raymond Daveluy and Lucienne and Gaston Arel.

Many saints and community founders felt a certain pride in affirming to have been entrusted with the responsibility by the Virgin Mary herself to preaching and spreading the practice of the recitation and devotion of the Rosary.

Social life is given its rhythm by successive periods of work, breaks, holidays and vacations. Summer seems to be the most popular season for taking a vacation.

It was on December 27, 1870, just a few weeks after arriving at Collège Notre-Dame, that young Alfred Bessette entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Holy Cross¹. Dressed in the Brothers’ cassock with a double cincture around his waist, Alfred took his vows of commitment before the novice master, Father Julien Gastineau, CSC. It was during this ceremony that he took the name of Brother André.

Now that summer is here, we can’t help but think of vacations, festivities, pleasure, sun and warmth. It is also a special time to begin a spiritual process of self-reflection that will open up a new place in your life.

By definition, a blessing is “a sacramental. It is an act, when performed by a duly qualified minister, in the name and by the authority of the Church, praying that God may look with favour on certain people and things, or dedicating them to religious service.¹”

When spring arrives, the swallows return. New plants sprout from the earth: fragile yet resilient. A gentle breeze blows through the open windows. It’s the season of renewal, of awakening, of life… and of spring cleaning! At least, that’s what we used to do to give our homes a fresh look. Before summer begins, I recommend you perform a small, practical exercise which doubles as a way to honour Saint Brother André.