Blessed Oil from the Oratory of Saint Joseph (Brother André – Montreal)

Extracted from the book "Saint Andrew Basette: The Greatest Devotee of Saint Joseph"

SAN JOSÉ OIL

The oil for healing was used by the apostles. The Gospel says: They cast out demons and, anointing many sick people with oil, healed them (Mk 6, 13). The apostle James says in his letter: Is any of you sick? Call the priests of the Church and pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up and the sins he has committed will be forgiven him (James 5, 14 - fifteen). The founder of the religious of the Holy Cross, Father Emile Moreau, had a lay friend, Leon Dupont, called the saint of Tours (France), whose cause of beatification is introduced, who advised taking oil from the lamp that shone in front of a image of the holy Face; and with it he rubbed the sick and many were cured. One day a postulant to be a religious of the Holy Cross became seriously ill and there were fears for her life, as she was already unconscious. Father Kilroy, from the Holy Cross community, gave the sisters oil that he had received from Mr. León Dupont, they rubbed the sick woman's back and, to everyone's surprise, she opened her eyes and began to speak. This complete healing happened in 1851 and Brother Andrés must have known about it. A bishop told him one day: To some sick people he says: “You are already cured” and that is how it is. He advises others to pray to Saint Joseph and make novenas; to others he rubs himself with the medal or with the oil of Saint Joseph and to others he says: “I am going to pray for you.” Why this difference? He responded: “Sometimes it is very easy to see.” Were they simple inspirations or did his angel or Saint Joseph tell him things? When he rubbed a sick person, he did not use a medal, he did it with his hand on the clothes and said that it produced the same effect. He rubbed hard and sometimes for half an hour or an hour, even for several days 36 . He never rubbed with the oil so as not to directly touch the sick person's body. He rubbed with or without the medal on the clothes on the honest parts of the body. CONTINUES HEALING Arturo Ganz reports: Mr. Henri Dagenais, businessman, suffered from inflammatory rheumatism. I advised him to visit Brother Andrés. The brother rubbed him and left him the medal and the Saint Joseph oil so he could continue rubbing. M. Dagenais did not have much confidence, but he did it; and after a week of rubbing he felt permanently cured. This man offered the brother a ten or twenty dollar bill. The brother told him: “Release another one.” He was going to give him another one, when his brother told him: “Don't worry, it's a joke.” But Mr. Dagenais responded: “I am going to voluntarily give you $500 for curing me.” The same man suggested to his sick son and mother-in-law that they go to see Brother Andrés and they were also cured 37 .

One day, at school, he healed a student in the infirmary. He had rubbed him and made his fever go away. The student went to class. When the doctor went to see the sick man and found out that he was in class, he was upset. Then he spoke badly of Brother Andrés and called him an old charlatan and charlatan who deceived people. Another day a man came to tell him that his wife was in poor health and he was very worried. The brother answered him: But his wife is not sick, she is standing and, when he comes, she will open the door for him. When he arrived home, he found his wife cured. This cure and that of the boy cured in the school infirmary, gave him fame and many other sick people began to visit him. Father Coderre reports: Some religious members of the community, in particular Brother Henri, made fun of him. This brother Henri complained to Dr. Charette, who was the school doctor, and they made Brother Andrés suffer a lot with their contempt 38 . Philip Perrier, vicar general of the diocese of Montreal, declared: Some doctors accused Brother Andrés of illegally practicing medicine. Their complaints reached the archbishop, Monsignor Bruchesi, who appointed a commission, made up of three priests, among whom I was. The three of us went to school in Côte-des-Neiges, where he was a janitor. We questioned him during some sessions to find out if the worship that the brother gave to Saint Joseph was superstitious and if he opposed the natural means of healing used by doctors or if he was only content with asking God for healing through Saint Joseph's intercession. from the patients. The commission sent the report to the archbishop without ruling on the veracity or authenticity of the miracles that were said to have happened. The commission declared that the devotion to Saint Joseph as practiced in the Oratory was simple and entirely in accordance with the dignity of the Church. This report is kept in the archives of the Archbishopric of Montreal 39 . Adelardo Fabre adds: One day the Archbishop of Montreal Mons. Bruchesi went to the Oratory. He had received bad reports about Brother Andrew rubbing women, etc. That day the archbishop felt numb and asked Brother Andrés to rub him and, as he felt well, he told him: “Continue rubbing the sick as before” 40 .

And he continued with his task, but some presented their complaints to the city's Hygiene Office. From the Office they delegated a doctor to do an investigation, who asked Brother Andrés if he was cured and how he was cured. He gave him a medal of Saint Joseph and a small bottle of oil, saying: “See what I give. It may also be useful to you.” The delegate told him: “You have nothing to worry about. I don't see anything wrong with it” 41 .

Over time, the demand for oil was so great that they had to sell it in bottles in the Oratory store.