Dear editor,

This letter is in response to the Oct. 17 canonization of Brother Andre Bessette of Montreal.

With great joy I welcome sainthood for blessed Brother Andre. He was a man rich in spiritual passion, humility, self-denial and love for God and man.

Through his cheerful dedication to the poor, the unfortunate, the sick and the crippled, Andre taught us how to look with hope toward the future. Though poor in health, he healed thousands. When he died in 1937, a million people attended his wake and burial.

God makes saints and the church recognizes them. If God endows his creatures with heroic sanctity, then it well behooves believers and all men of good will to examine God’s message as revealed through the virtues of these select persons. Today’s young people have a great desire to be heroic. Let them look to St. Andre.

Paul Kokoski

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada