Saint Brother André of Montréal and the Performance of Catholic Masculinity

Abstract

Saint Brother André (1845–1937), the founder of St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montréal, remains one of the most popular religious figures in Québec. Much of his reputation as a saint rests upon the ways in which he is depicted in devotional texts and in Catholic religious imagery: humble, simple, silent and self-effacing. These are often the same characteristics attributed to St. Joseph. This article attempts to question such a facile and limited caricature of Brother André. While he certainly displayed forms of what I call a Catholic subordinate Josephite masculinity, one that was characteristic of some French Canadian men of that era, Brother André was also able to move beyond such stereotypes in both his religious and public lives, thereby performing a less restrictive and more audacious form of masculinity.