St. André Bessette
Ave Crux, Spes Unica (Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope)
Alfred Bessette was born in Quebec on August 9, 1845, and he was orphaned by the time he was 12. He had to work to support himself and had little formal education, but from an early age he had a lively faith and a strong devotion to St. Joseph. After a few years trying to find work in the United States, he returned to Quebec. There, his childhood pastor encouraged him to consider a vocation to religious life. He sent Alfred to the Congregation with a note that said, “I am sending you a saint.”
Initially, Holy Cross did not accept Alfred because of his poor health. He had been baptized right after birth because they had been afraid that he might not live more than a few days, and he was sickly all his life. Alfred, however, was not discouraged, with the assistance of the Archbishop of Montreal, received entrance into the Holy Cross Novitiate on December 27, 1870.
