From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   January 6th - Blessed Andre Bessette, Healer   
      
   Alfred Bessette was born on August 9, 1845, not far from Montreal, Canada.   
   He was the eighth of twelve children. When Alfred was nine, his father, a   
   wood cutter, died in an accident at work. Three years later, Alfred's mother   
   died of tuberculosis, leaving the children orphans. They were split up and   
   placed in different homes. Alfred went to live with his aunt and uncle.   
      
   Because his family had been so poor and he was often sick, Alfred had very   
   little education. So for the next thirteen years he tried learning different   
   trades like farming, shoemaking and baking. He even worked in a factory in   
   Connecticut. But his health always failed him.   
      
   When Alfred was twenty-five, he joined the order of Holy Cross and chose the   
   name Brother Andre. He spent the next forty years as a general maintenance   
   man and messenger. The remaining years of his life were spent as the   
   doorkeeper for the order's college. Here, Brother Andre's healing power   
   became known. When people came to ask him for a cure, he would tell them to   
   first thank God for their suffering because it was so valuable. Then he   
   would pray with them. Most of them were cured. Brother Andre always refused   
   credit for the healing. He insisted it had been the person's faith and the   
   power of St. Joseph.   
      
   Brother Andre had a great love for the Eucharist and for St. Joseph. When he   
   was young, he dreamt he saw a big church, but he couldn't tell where it was.   
   Gradually, he came to realize that God wanted a church in honor of St.   
   Joseph. That church was to be built on top of Mount Royale in Montreal,   
   Canada. Prayer and the sacrifices of Brother Andre and many other people   
   made the dream come true. The magnificent church honoring St. Joseph was   
   built. It is a testimony to Brother Andre's tremendous faith. Pilgrims come   
   to Mount Royale all year and from distant places. They want to honor St.   
   Joseph. They want to show their trust in his loving care, as Brother Andre   
   did.   
      
   Brother Andre died peacefully on January 6, 1937. Nearly a million people   
   climbed Mount Royale to St. Joseph's Oratory for his funeral.   
      
   They came in spite of sleet and snow to say good-bye to their dear friend.   
   He was proclaimed "blessed" on May 23, 1982, by Pope John Paul II.   
      
   Blessed Andre Bessette believed not in himself but in the power of God's   
   love for him. In him we can see that God reveals his power shining through   
   our human weakness.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "We can actually come and adore Him like the shepherds; we can prostrate   
   ourselves before Him like the Magi; we need no longer regret our not having   
   been present at Bethlehem."   
   --Bl. Julian Eymard   
      
   Bible Quote   
   69 And Simon Peter answered him: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the   
   words of eternal life. (John 6:69)   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Today is the Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord.   
   This word epiphany means manifestation.  In this feast the   
   Church celebrates the threefold manifestation of Christ:   
   to the Magi (the gentiles), in His Baptism, at which a   
   voice from God in the heavens declared "This is My   
   Beloved Son", and through the miracle of the changing   
   of water to wine at the wedding feast at Cana.   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   Another prayer for the Holy Souls, "Deliver Them from Purgatory":   
      
   My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine agony in the Garden,   
    in Thy scourging and crowning with thorns, on the way to Calvary,   
   in Thy crucifixion and death, have mercy on the souls in purgatory,   
   and especially on those that are most forsaken; do Thou deliver them   
   from the terrible torments they endure;   
   call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in paradise.   
   Amen.   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   Prayer to consecrate the New Year   
      
   O Sweet Savior of my Soul! From the depths of my heart I salute Thee at the   
   beginning of this year.  O my Infant Savior, I most confidently approach Thy   
   crib and implore Thee to give efficacy by Thy Precious Blood to the   
   resolutions I now make, of living from this moment in the manner I shall   
   wish to have done when time shall be about to close forever on me.   
      
   May each action of the coming year be offered in union with the adorable   
   actions of Thy mortal life; may every intention be renounced save that of   
   laboring for Thy love and glory. O merciful Jesus! By the helplessness of   
   Thy Holy Infancy, strengthen my weakness and fortify my resolution nevermore   
   to offend Thee.  Amen.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)