| Notes |
- She was known as Sister Mary Andrew R.S.M. Bessette.
St. Albans Daily Messenger, Thursday, May 1, 1990
Richford Native awaits Saintford for Uncle
By Rhode Berger
RICHFORD ? Sister Mary Andrew Bessette, a Sister of Mercy at Mt. St. Mary?s Convent in Burlington, marked the Feast of Blessed Andre Bessette Jan. 26 by making a special effort that day to give others information about her grand-uncle, who is being considered for canonization.
Brotehr Andre, a Holy Cross Brother, had a great devotion to St. Joseph and was the moving force behind the construction of St. Joseph Oratory in Montreal. He was beatified ? proclaimed blessed ? May 23, 1982 by Pope John Paul II.
Beatification is one of the steps toward being proclaimed a saint. His feast day was ?rather special? for Sister Bessette.
?I made a special effort to put publications and material about him I nthe waiting rooms at the hospital,? she saied, noting that she spent most of the day at the Medical Centger Hospital of Vermont in Burlington visiting patients and giving Holy Communion to some 45 persons.
Sister Bessette keeps a supply of ?Who Is This Man,? as brochure summarizing the life of Andre, to leave at the hospital and to give to people. She does this ?to make known Brother Andre, to get people to ask questions about him and get involved with him.?
Sister Bessette, daughter of the late Andrew and Mary Elizabeth (Fournier) Bessette, was born and raised in Richford along with her late brother, Ernest. She graduated as Oressa Bessette in 1927 from Richford High, and she is one of a handful of Brother Andre?s grand-nieces and nephews still living in Nothern Vermont.
Her memories of him include visits he used to make to her family in Richford. He and her mother, she says, ?were like kindred spirits.?
The brother of Sister Bessette?s paternal grandfather, Brother Andre had a ?delicate constitution,? so her mother would prepare special meals for him. She would put out a spread of things he could eat, such as beef broth and bread ? simple fare, Sister Bessette recalls.
?I loved him,? she says. ?I had the greatest reverence for him. I was just a child, and I was in awe of him.? She describes her grand-uncle as a natural humble person with a constant interest in helping others and healing those who neede healing. His whole demeanor, Sister Bessette said, was sacrificing himself for the sake of obtaining healing and help for others.
A native of St. Cesaire, Canada, Brother Andre was about 30 when extraordinary cures came to those he cared for. This followed his prayers of request for assistance to St. Joseph. His grand-niede says that Brother Andre was ?hurt and offended? when people credite him with these cures. ?He gave all the credit to St. Joseph and our Divine Lord,? says Sister Bessette.
According to Brother Robert Montcalm, CSC of Montreal, the Promoter of the Cause of canonization of Brother Andre, it is still unknown when he may be name a saint. ?Rome will decie when he will be canonized,? he said. ?It is like a trial. We are in the trial, but we don?t know when it will end.?
To be canonized a person must be credited with a miracle, Brother Montcalm said, observing that six cases on behalf of Brother Andre were prepared and sent ot Rome. ?The five (additional cases) give proof that people continue to pray to Brother Andre and to have confidence in Brother Andre,? he explained.
Sister Bessette is naturally eager for her grand-uncle to be canonized. She hopes it is not too much further in the future before Rome brings about his canonization because, she says, the world today needs his example and the realization of the power of prayer. She adds that the world has gone all out for materialistic things and forgotten the spiritual. He was an example, she said, of humility and poverty, and his deep faith filled him with cdlmpassion, love and the salvation of souls.
Sister Bessette has been helping to provide information on Brother Andre?s family genealogy for a book on the man that is currently being compiled by Holy Cross Brother Laurent Boucher of Montreal.
Burlington Free Press, October 10, 1994
Sister Mary Andrew (Oressa E.) Bessette, 86, of the Sisters of Mercy of Vermont died in the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont on Saturday, October 8, 1994.
She was born in Richford on August 8, 1908, the daughter of Andrew and Mary Elizabeth (Fournier) Bessette.
She received her early education at Richford Grammar School and was a graduate of Richford High School. She receivec a bachelor of science in commercial from Trinity College of Vermont.
She was employed by Green Mountain Power Corp. of Burlington for several years before entering the Sisters of Mercy of Vermont September 8, 1939. She made her profession of vows April 7, 1942.
For many years Sister Mary Andrew was engaged in the ministry of education. She taught in the schools staffed by the Sisters of Mercy; Cathedral Grammar, Burlington; Cathedral High School, Burlington; St Monica’s School, Barre, and Christ the King, Burlington.
She also taught in CCD programs in parishes in vErmont. When she retired in 1978, she was actively engaged in service to her Mercy Community and volunteered in the Pastoral Care Ministry at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont.
Sister Mary Andrew was the grandniece of Blessed Brother Andre Bessette, a religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross, who was beautified May 23, 1982.
Sister Mary Andrew is survived by her sisters in religion, the Sisters of Mercy of Vermont, as well as many cousins and friends. She was predeceased by her parents and two brothers, Albert H., and Ernest E.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, October 11, at 4 p.m. in Mount St. Mary Chapel. Interment will follow in Mount St. Mary Cemetery.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1908 - 1994 (86 years)