The relic’s tour of Central Texas will kick off with veneration, Mass and a presentation at St. Ignatius Martyr Parish on Sept. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Other stops will include St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic School, St. Edward’s University, San Juan Diego Catholic High School, and Holy Cross High School in San Antonio.

Holy Cross Father John Dougherty, pastor of St. Ignatius Martyr Parish, is excited to “have a visit” from St. André Bessette.

“We encourage everyone, especially if you have a connection to Holy Cross — but even if you don’t — to come and learn more about this amazing saint whom so many people have sought out for prayer and healing, both in his lifetime and in the present day,” Father Dougherty said.

Born in Canada in 1845, Alfred Bessette (who took the religious name “André”) entered the Congregation of Holy Cross at the age of 20. At the College of Notre Dame in Montreal, for over 38 years, he welcomed thousands of people to the school as its doorkeeper. Many people began to experience physical healings after praying with Brother André, a man of intense prayer. As the crowds grew larger and more cures were reported, Brother André remained humble, for he knew the real source of these miraculous cures was the intercession of St. Joseph, to whom he founded a shrine across the street from Notre Dame College. When the shrine opened in 1904, Brother André’s full-time ministry was to receive the long lines of sick visitors who flocked to the oratory to see him. He became known as the “Miracle Man of Montreal,” and thousands of miraculous healings were attributed to his intercession over the following decades.

Brother André, who died in 1937, was canonized in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. Nearly two million pilgrims visit St. Joseph’s Oratory every year. The side chapels are filled with crutches of people healed through St. André’s prayers.