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Today in the USA the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of Saint André Bessette (1845-1937) was born near Quebec, and entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross as a Brother. He performed humble tasks for over forty years and entrusted all of the poor and sick who flocked to his cell to the care of St. Joseph. During his life he was able to have a chapel built to the spouse of the Virgin Mary. After his death, the shrine grew into the great basilica known as St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal.

According to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) calendar, the Optional Memorial of Saint André Bessette is celebrated in Canada not on January 6 but on January 7.

Today in some parts of the world and also in the former calendar (1962) is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates Saint Andrew Corsini (1302-1374), Carmelite, later Bishop of Fiesole, Italy. He is known for his peacemaking.

Epiphany Reflection: The Feast of the Epiphany, The Espousals of the King!
1. Christ lives in His Church. He shines like the sun within her. Nay, even more; He identifies Himself with her; they are one, one organism, or as theologians say, they form "one mystical body."

2. "Hodie caelesti sponso iuncla est Ecclesia—Today the Church is joined to her heavenly spouse, for today Christ cleanses her (the baptism of Christ in the Jordan) of her sins. This day a star led the Wise Men to the manger; this day water was turned into wine at the wedding feast." Here we are given a picture of a wedding. "Lift up thy eyes round about and see; all these are gathered together; they are come to thee. Thou shalt see and abound and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged." Entrance to the Church is made through baptism. The Gentiles enter the Church through baptism in order that with her and through her they may be espoused to Christ, and share in His marriage feast. This feast Christ celebrates first of all with His Church in Holy Communion, and eventually He will celebrate it with her in the heavenly Cana.

It is only in the world to come that we shall experience the real epiphany, the full revelation of Christ in His glory. For this reason, the Church sings: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with garments of salvation; and with the robe of justice He hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels" (Isa. 61:10). This is the mystery of the Church, our mystery, the secret of our greatness. Through the Church we are joined in a living union with Christ. We belong to Christ. Together with the rest of the Church Militant, we form one living organism with Christ and the Church Triumphant—the whole Christ. On earth, union with Christ can be accomplished only through a union of wills, and of love. Our espousal to Christ unites us to Him as the members of a body are united to the head, as the branches are united to the vine, an inner union that is closer than any relationship between married people on earth. Christ and His Church, have but one life in common. What a tremendous favor on the part of God! How greatly we are honored! "Gaudens gaudebo—I will greatly rejoice in the Lord and my soul shall be joyful in my God!" I have been incorporated in the life and the person of Christ. I am one with Him, in and through Holy Mother Church.

"Lift up thy eyes round about and see." Understand this truth: Christ lives and works in His Church. His holy spirit vitalizes the faithful and binds them to Him and His love. It is His spirit which is the vital principle in the Church, and which makes her the fruitful instrument of His redemptive work. The Church is not merely a mediator between Christ and the soul, not merely an intermediary between God and man. She is rather the form in which Christ the Mediator and Redeemer appears among men and accomplishes His work of redemption. She is an ever present Epiphany, or manifestation of the Lord. She cannot be separated from Christ and His spirit, any more than the soul of a man can be separated from his body. In spite of her worldly appearance, she is elevated to the sphere of the divine. In her, in her priesthood, in her doctrine, in her works, we recognize the work of Christ. His priesthood, His truth, His grace, His power, and His authority. "He that hearth you heareth me" (Luke 10:16).

3. "Behold, the Lord, the Ruler, is come; and the kingdom is in His hand, and power and dominion." Christ the divine King has united Himself with His Church. "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5). The vine sustains its branches; it bears them up, vitalizes them, pours forth is strength into them, supplies them with nourishment, and makes them fruitful. The branches share the life of the vine. In this lies the greatness of the Church, in this lies the proudest boast of the Christian. "Arise O Jerusalem, and be enlightened, for the light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee," O Holy Mother Church, O Christian soul! How fortunate one is to be a member of the one true Church!

"Behold the Lord, the Ruler, is come." Behold, He lives in each and every member of the Church, in your neighbor as well as yourself. In our neighbor we behold a manifestation of Christ. We must see Christ in our neighbor, honor Christ in our neighbor, love Christ in our neighbor. "As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me" (Matt. 24:40).
—Excerpted from The Light of the World, Volume One by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

St. André Bessette
Brother André expressed a saint's faith by a lifelong devotion to Saint Joseph.

Sickness and weakness dogged André from birth. He was the eighth of twelve children born to a French Canadian couple near Montreal. Adopted at twelve, when both parents had died, he became a farmhand. Various trades followed: shoemaker, baker, blacksmith—all failures. He was a factory worker in the United States during the boom times of the Civil War.

At twenty-five, he applied for entrance into the Congregation of the Holy Cross. After a year's novitiate, he was not admitted because of his weak health. But with an extension and the urging of Bishop Bourget (see Marie-Rose Durocher, October 6), he was finally received. He was given the humble job of doorkeeper at Notre Dame College in Montreal, with additional duties as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. "When I joined this community, the superiors showed me the door, and I remained forty years."

In his little room near the door, he spent much of the night on his knees. On his windowsill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom he had been devoted since childhood. When asked about it he said, "Some day, Saint Joseph is going to be honored in a very special way on Mount Royal!"

When he heard someone was ill, he visited to bring cheer and to pray with the sick person. He would rub the sick person lightly with oil taken from a lamp burning in the college chapel. Word of healing powers began to spread.

When an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, André volunteered to nurse. Not one person died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. "I do not cure," he said again and again. "Saint Joseph cures." In the end he needed four secretaries to handle the eighty thousand letters he received each year.

For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother André and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph. Suddenly, the owners yielded. André collected two hundred dollars to build a small chapel and began receiving visitors there—smiling through long hours of listening, applying Saint Joseph's oil. Some were cured, some not. The pile of crutches, canes and braces grew.

The chapel also grew. By 1931 there were gleaming walls, but money ran out. "Put a statue of Saint Joseph in the middle. If he wants a roof over his head, he'll get it." The magnificent Oratory on Mount Royal took fifty years to build. The sickly boy who could not hold a job died at ninety.

He is buried at the Oratory and was beatified in 1982. On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a decree recognizing a second miracle at Brother André’s intercession and on October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI formally declared sainthood for Brother André.
—Saint of the Day, Leonard Foley, O.F.M.

Patronage: family caregivers in Canada

Highlights and Things to Do:

• Read more about St. André:
  • Salt and Light
  • Solzemli
  • CatholicSaints.info
  • Canadian Catholic Conference of Bishops
  • Healthy Catholics
  • The Irish Catholic
• Learn more about the Holy Cross Brothers, the order of which St. André was a member. Pray for an increase in vocations and for those who are already living the religious life.
• If you live close to St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal, make a pilgrimage. If that's not possible make a virtual pilgrimage.
• Say a prayer for the sick who were so dear to the heart of Brother André.
• Sample authentic French Canadian food by trying the suggested Recipes.
• The remains of Brother André lie in the church he helped build, St. Joseph's Oratory. His body lies in a tomb built below the Oratory's Main Chapel, except for his heart, which is preserved in a reliquary in the same Oratory. The heart was stolen in March 1973, but was recovered in December 1974.
• See Catholic Cuisine for a maple candy recipe for this day.

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St. Andrew Corsini
St. Andrew Corsini lived from 1302 to 1373. While still carrying him in her womb, his mother dreamed she had given birth to a wolf that sauntered to the gate of the Carmelite monastery, and entering the vestibule of the church, was changed to a lamb. Andrew was reared as a pious and God-fearing youth, but little by little he succumbed to the pleasures of the world in spite of frequent warnings and reproofs from his mother. After he became aware that his parents had vowed him to the service of Blessed Mary, he mended his ways and at the age of seventeen entered the Carmelite Order. Though persistently tempted and assailed by the devil, he never swerved from his holy decision. A man of austere penance, he fasted continuously, always wore a hair shirt, and prayed the penitential psalms daily. For humility's sake he often washed the feet of the poor and beggars. His special gift from God was the grace to effect the conversion of hardened sinners. In 1360, despite his efforts to the contrary, he was made bishop of Fiesole in Tuscany.
—Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patronage: Against civil disorder; against riots; Florence; Fiesole; Diplomats

Symbols and Representation: Holding a cross, with a wolf and lamb at his feet, and floating above a battlefield on a cloud or a white palfrey; Mitre; Episcopal attire; Carmelite habit

Highlights and Things to Do:

• Read more about St. Andrew Corsini:
  • Catholic Encyclopedia
  • Catholic Ireland
  • Saints and Blessed
  • Carmelite
• See the statue of St. Andrew in St. Peter's Basilica Colonnade.
• Pray to St. Andrew Corsini that your children, especially teenagers, may find their true vocation and follow it faithfully.
• St. Andrew's fellow Italians often sought his aid in solving the disputes which had split their families and cities — imitate this peacemaker, renowned for his prudence and wisdom, by sowing peace in your own home.