The Italian Renaissance-style St. Joseph's Oratory has a giant copper dome, 283 steps and a main portico with 18-metre high Corinthian columns. (Courtesy Perry Mastrovito/St. Joseph's Oratory)

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MONTREAL -- They left their canes and crutches behind by the hundreds, all claiming to have been healed by the same man -- a lay brother in the Holy Cross order named Alfred Bessette, better known as Brother Andre.

Last month, after decades of lobbying by his supporters -- and after Vatican officials were convinced Bessette had performed at least two miracles -- he was finally canonized at a ceremony in Rome, becoming Canada's first modern-day saint who will now be known as Saint Andre Bessette.

In Montreal, the attention is focused, now more than ever, on the small chapel he built in 1904, and the massive Saint Joseph's Oratory nearby, completed after his death. A pilgrimage site, which attracts two million visitors every year, the oratory is also a tourist attraction, and the place to learn about this fascinating, yet humble man.

At one time, there were doubts the oratory, which dominates the north slope of Mount Royal, would ever be built. Construction began in 1924, but came to a halt in 1929 after the economic crisis triggered by the stock market crash. A worried congregation, sought the advice of Brother Andre.

"This is not my work, it is the work of Saint Joseph," he replied. "Put one of his statues in the middle of the building. If he wants a roof over his head, he'll take care of it."

Two months later the necessary funds materialized and the building was completed.

Bessette's faith was unwavering, despite a difficult childhood. Born in 1845, southeast of Montreal, the 8th child in a family of 12, he was orphaned by the age of 12. Poor, sickly and with little education, he worked at various jobs, including one in the textile mills of New England.

Returning to Canada in 1867, he joined the Congregation of Holy Cross, where he took the name Brother Andre. He liked to joke when recalling his early duties as a porter at Notre-Dame college: "When I entered the community my superiors showed me the door, and I remained there for 40 years without leaving."

When he wasn't guarding the door or washing floors, he welcomed the sick and broken-hearted, and invited them to pray to Saint Joseph, who also experienced poverty and exile, and with whom he felt a kinship. By the time he was 30, Brother Andre was being credited with extraordinary cures.

"I am a man just like you," Brother Andre once said, refusing to take credit for any healings or miracles. The humble layman was canonized in Rome on Oct. 17, becoming Canada's first modern-day saint. (Courtesy St. Joseph's Oratory Archives)

After receiving pilgrims in a small office at the tramway station for years, he decided to build a chapel with the help of friends. You can visit the chapel, which contains his simply furnished room. It's one of 15 points of interest in a self-guided tour booklet available on site for $2. (Guided tours are also offered).

Most tours begin outside, near the Carillon, one of the largest in North America. Inside -- past the votive chapel where hundreds of crutches hang, and a lamp rack that holds 3,500 lights -- is the tomb of Brother Andre, who died on Jan. 6, 1937. A photo in the booklet shows Pope John Paul II kneeling before the tomb during his visit to Canada.

Elsewhere a display includes a scale model of the house where Brother Andre was born and objects which he used; the tiny room he occupied for 38 years from 1872-1909; and an office identical to the one where he greeted pilgrims. Even the hospital room where he died was dismantled and rebuilt at the oratory with the authentic walls, floor, furniture and linen. In a room that resembles a bank vault, a small box on a pedestal contains Brother Andre's heart.

It takes at least two hours to see everything in the Oratory, including the views from rooftop terrace, the gardens and the Way of the Cross statues, the Crypt Church with a Carrara marble statue of Saint Joseph, a private collection of religious art, nativity scenes from around the world and the grand organ.

Brother Andre always refused to take credit for any healings or miracles.

"I am a man just like you," he once said.

But the masses beg to differ. When he died in 1937 at the age of 91, a million people filed passed his coffin. His canonization last month only confirmed what many already believed. Brother Andre had a special gift.

For more information, visit saint-joseph.org.

writer@interlog.com