One of the best-known sights of Montreal is the white basilica, St. Joseph's Oratory, which towers above the city. Less known is the man whose determination and faith led to its construction: Brother Andre, who spent the forty prime years of his life answering the door at a boys' school across the road from the Oratory and who always wanted to help build a church in honor of St. Joseph. Orphaned, sickly, awkward at every manual job to which he turned, both in his native Canada and in the United States, Alfred Bessette found his place in life in 1874 when he became Brother Andre in the Congregation of Holy Cross. Soon after his death in 1937, first steps were taken which may lead to his canonization.

From the dust jacket