Because of his fragile health, Brother Andre was given the low-level job of porter at the Notre Dame School for boys aged 7-12 in Montreal, Canada. Yet Andre had such burning faith and such a deep, disciplined prayer life, that soon it was noticed by the brothers, priests, and teachers that his prayers for the sick boys resulted in numerous cures. When there was an epidemic at the school, not one of the boys he nursed died. Word spread; in time, people from across Canada, the United States, even Mexico, and Brazil, crowded to where he lived, begging for healing: first they mobbed the school, and then later, the Oratory for St. Joseph, on Mount Royal, where he became guardian. Thousands were healed through his prayers to St. Joseph for his intercession - Brother Andre always refused to take credit for the healings, and always told people "Go to Joseph." When Brother Andre died in his nineties, over a million people streamed past his small, simple coffin.
God had chosen Brother Andre to be His instrument in a marvelous ministry of healing. Yet Andre never prayed for his own healing from the illness and physical weakness he had endured since childhood, not even when he was dying. Because he had personally experienced so much suffering, he had grown to see suffering not as an evil but as a way to grow into closer unity with the suffering Christ and to offer his own suffering for the salvation of souls. And, he had seen in himself how suffering endured with patience and grace purifies our souls from selfishness and self-absorption, widens and softens our hearts to better empathize with the sufferings of others, is necessary, in fact, for us to grow into spiritual maturity.
Andre had great devotion to Christ, the Suffering Servant. When Andre entered the Holy Cross Order at the age of twenty-five, he didn't know how to read. His great joy, in learning how to read, was to finally be able to read the Scriptures. He memorized the Passion accounts in all four Gospels. Daily he prayed the Stations of the Cross. If he was ill in bed, he prayed the Stations while holding a crucifix, a statue of his favorite saint, St. Joseph, by his side. And so, close to Christ, he had Jesus' attitude towards miracles of healing: the main reason for and benefit of a healing was to either strengthen or ignite faith.
"Although numerous miracles occurred at Andre's hands, even to non-Catholics, not every miracle seeker was successful. When asked why not every sick person was healed, Andre pointed out that God may choose to heal a person with less faith to strengthen it. A person with strong faith does not require a healing to be convinced of God's power and goodness....
"Brother Andre held that things of value are acquired with difficulty. But obstacles are an indicator of success. Patiently overcoming obstacles results in an abundance of grace. He believed that God rewarded in Heaven earthly sufferings a hundred-fold. His view was that people would beg suffering from God if they had any appreciation of its value.
"When he himself experienced trials, the Oratory grew dramatically. (Eventually it became the Basilica to St. Joseph, the largest Church in Canada.) Andre told his friends that in prayer people should not beg to be exempted from suffering. Instead they should request the strength to endure hardship.
"Andre was taken up with the goodness of God and the Passion of Christ. When he shared his feelings about these things, he moved people deeply. He spoke with such fervor. He pointed out that a miracle underscores the goodness of God, not only for the person healed but for those who learn about it. It strengthens their faith. Although he had a very close relationship with St. Joseph, whom he regarded as a model and a friend, he identified with the suffering Jesus and wanted to share in His suffering both in heart and body. The little brother reminded people who were not cured to unite their suffering to that of Christ. If their crosses were embraced and joined to the cross of Christ, God would draw great good out of them. This suffering would help lead others to salvation. Andre was indeed a special instrument of God to unveil His active presence in the lives of the suffering. There was no resistance in Andre's soul to the workings of God. There was neither selfishness nor pride. The little brother was entirely seduced by God's beauty. Jesus' cross enabled him to discover this beauty. In Jesus, Andre recognized God participating in human suffering and encountering us today in our suffering. This led him to do the Stations of the Cross daily.
"Although it was physical healings that made Brother Andre well-known, he himself was more interested in spiritual healings. He would gladly spend an hour with a sinner in need of conversion. He envisioned a physical healing as a means to spiritual regeneration. Many of the people Bessette visited were alienated from Christ and the Church. He succeeded in reconciling many to God by telling them in detail about the Passion Christ underwent for our sakes." (Charles DeCelles, in "Brother Andre Bessette: The Later Years," in "The Catholic Leader," Volume 16.)
So often when we are enduring physical, emotional, or spiritual suffering, or hardships, we grow bitter. We ask God "Why is this happening to me?" I know. I've "been there." Often. The only cure, the only healing, is to do as Brother Andre Bessette did - go to the suffering Jesus. Recognize that He suffered and died for us to flood us with the ocean of grace of His mercy and redemption. Nothing, no suffering, can separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus is with us in our sufferings, comforts and upholds us, and invites us to unite our sufferings with His - for the salvation of souls. We are His Body in the world today. As St. Paul says, our offered sufferings make up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. Can we thirst for souls, as Jesus did? Can we weep at the thought of so many who live in darkness and despair because they haven't discovered that God is real and merciful and forgives our sins? Can we allow our hearts to be pierced by love for the world? Can we look honestly at our lives and see that the times we have accepted our sufferings, we have grown to be more mature in strength, and compassion, and in the knowledge that we CAN overcome?
Jesus tells us "Trust in Me, for I have overcome the world."