Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 11—The Georgia Bulletin, April 28,1983
The Story Of A Friend Of The Sick
BY CHRISTINE ALLEN
Brother Andrew Bessette’s extraordinary ministry to
the sick may well have grown out of his own experiences
with sickness. All his life he wrestled with bouts of poor
health.
The eighth of 12 children, Alfred Bessette was born in
1845 in St. Gregoire, Quebec, a town half way between
the Canadian cities of Quebec and Montreal. But by the
age of 12, he was an orphan whose mother had died of
tuberculosis. From then on he was forced to earn his
living by laboring in the fields and farms of his beautiful
but poor countryside.
The young man migrated to New England at the age of
19 to work in the textile mills. Then, in 1867, he returned
to his homeland and at the age of 25 joined the Holy
Cross congregation, taking the name Andrew. Because of
his weak health, the congregation’s superiors had doubts
about allowing the young man to join the order. It is
ironic that he lived to the age of 91.
Largely uneducated, Brother Bessette was assigned the
task of porter at the order’s home, opening the door to
guests. At about the age of 30 he began to visit the sick on
a regular basis.
From this point on, the story of Brother Bessette
became the story of a man in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries - one who after his death would be venerated by
many — who gave his time to the sick.
This religious brother blessed suffering people with oil
and prayed for them, often calling on St. Joseph, patron
of the sick, for help.
Gradually, people began to say that the brother was
curing them. They said he had healed their fevers and
smallpox and rheumatism.
But the brother never took credit for what happened.
Instead he was emphatic that the Lord was using St.
Joseph to help heal people. Once, after curing a man of
‘St. Joseph decided that he needs his
palsy, he remarked:
two legs.’’
Brother Bessette’s main interest really was in the
conversion of people. For him, the healing of the body
was secondary to the healing of the spirit. A follower later
quoted him as saying of the healings: “It cannot be
asserted that these are always miracles, but they are great
favors, bestowed by God that people open their eyes.”
Because of his lifelong devotion to St. Joseph, Brother
Bessette suggested building a chapel to the patron of the
sick. The brother also loved the rugged slopes of Mount
Royal in Montreal. When the land came up for sale, his
congregation bought it and before long Brother Bessette
had collected enough money to build a simple chapel
there.
From the beginning a steady stream of pilgrims who
knew of Brother Bessette made their way to the chapel
which today is the site of St. Joseph’s Oratory. Any
traveler approaching the city of Montreal will be
impressed by the towering dome of the oratory which
graces the top of the mountain in the center of the city.
More than 2 million people from all over the world visit
the oratory every year.
In the heart of the oratory lies a simple black marble
tomb with the remains of Brother Bessette. In 1982 the
brother was declared blessed by Pope John Paul II, one
step on the path to canonization.
Some people may find it curious that so many still
journey to a special center to pray for healing of the
body, the mind or the spirit. Yet it is a fact that they do,
just as one finds that prayers for the sick are heard during
the Prayers of Petition of almost every Sunday Mass.
Perhaps the legacy of Brother Bessette is found partly
in the prayer motivated by the memory of him. Yet, what
people may forget, is that it was Brother Bessette’s
ministry to be a friend to the sick, to spend time with
them, to comfort them and to pray with them.
The Babylonian Exile Ends
BY FATHER JOHN CASTELOT
Disciples of the Old Testament prophets preserved and
edited their masters’ sermons. But some of the disciples
made an even more personal contribution.
The prophet Isaiah, for instance, lived and preached
during the eighth century B.C. But his influence was still
felt in the sixth century. Isaiah’s disciples had continued
his spirit, his outlook, his theology, even his literary style
to a certain extent, developing and adapting it to the
changing circumstances of the people.
Thus, toward the end of the Babylonian exile a work
appeared that is now known as Deuteroo-Isaiah or Second
Isaiah. It is like Isaiah in so many ways that it is
incorporated into the book which bears his name. On the
other hand, it is unlike him in so many ways that he could
not have written it personally. It is found in Isaiah,
Chapters 40-55.
This section’s whole background — historical,
theological, literary — is not that of the eighth century
B.C., but of the sixth, toward the end of the Babylonian
exile of the Israelites. By that time dramatic changes had
taken place in the Mideast.
Nebuchadnezzar, who had been responsible for the
capture of Jerusalem, was a truly outstanding ruler. He
made the neo-Babylonian Empire one of the greatest
empires in human history. But when Nebuchadnezzar died
in 561 B.C. after a phenomenal reign of 43 years, his
empire all but died with him. His successors were weak
and ineffectual.
With the assassination of the last of them in 556,
Nebuchadnezzar’s dynasty came to an end. Nabonidus,
son of a priest and priestess, was put on the throne.
Nabonidus was thoroughly incapable; in fact, he was
psychotic. In 548 B.C. the son of Nabonidus, Belshazzar,
took over the reins of government.
Meanwhile, things were happening just east of
Babylonia in the countries now known as Iran and Iraq. A
Persian ruler named Cyrus rebelled against his northern
neighbors and overlords, the Medes, and made them his
subjects. He then pushed north and west and made
himself master of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) and
Greece. An extremely able and energetic leader, Cyrus
pushed even as far as Siberia and China, Turkestan and
India.
But the significant point here is that he now had
Babylonia completely surrounded.
Babylonia had grown weak and flabby as a result of
maladministration. In the year 539 Cyrus walked into
Babylon without having to shoot an arrow.
The whole picture had changed in the Mideast and the
Jews were to profit by the change.
The Persians were not Semites; they were Aryans. Their
outlook was quite different from that of the Assyrians or
Babylonians. For one thing, they were not nearly so cruel
and Cyrus himself was a very considerate victor.
Cyrus treated vanquished peoples with mildness and
consideration and respected their religious convictions. It
is not too surprising then that he granted the Jews’
request to return to their homeland.
The career of Cyrus and the impending liberation of the
Isrelite exiles form the background for Second Isaiah.
BLESSED ANDRE BESSETTE (top) never
took credit for all the healings that seemed to
follow wherever he went, preferring instead to
give the credit to St. Joseph. Today, at St.
Joseph’s Oratory (bottom) near Montreal built on
the grounds of Blessed Andre’s small chapel, more
than 2 million visitors arrive annually on
pilgrimages to pray for healing of the body, mind
or spirit. (NC Photos)
This remarkable composition known as Second Isaiah is
known also as the Book of Consolation and quite
fittingly. Its opening words in Isaiah Chapter 40 set the
tone for all that follows:
“Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her
service is at an end, her guilt is expiated ... A voice cries
out: In the desert prepare the way of the Lord. Make
straight in the wasteland a highway for our God.”
• Do you know anyone, perhaps a • Katharine Bird’s article tells of a
or child, who suffers from a volunteer who became the friend of a
chronically ill teen-age boy. What did the
volunteer do?
and not of the person?
• If you are a
teacher,
chronic illness or a
^ catechist or^ a to the sick during his lifetime. What was his
• Dolores Leckey tells of Stephen
jfts, as well? Hawking, the great physicist. How did he say
• The sacrament ~‘' u - 11 ^ *>
the church intends to 1
• Have you ever had an experience with
r, and thus stay
• Is there a mil
or
your Christian
church who are servir ~
to
i
in
this area?