Photos of St. Joseph's Oratory Basilica in Montreal

Two weeks ago I posted photos of the shrine at Lourdes for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. That led me to post photos of some other basilicas I visited during the pilgrimage.

Continuing with that general theme, I thought I'd post some photos of St. Joseph's Oratory, which I had the opportunity to visit during a work trip to Montreal back in September. Not only is the Oratory a beautiful church, but it's also the home of St. André of Montreal, a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross whose intercession is credited for thousands of miraculous healings.

Known as "Brother Andre", the saint was a doorman known for his great devotion to St. Joseph and was canonized by Pope Benedict in 2010.

The basilica's exterior from the parking lot

A timeline of Brother Andre's life and canonization

Just a few of the many crutches left by believers healed at the oratory

The interior of the church

The sanctuary

The Alter and Tabernacle

The Crucifix from the back of the Sanctuary

I am always deeply moved by the Crucified Christ hanging in agony

The chapel where St. Andre lived and prayed

The interior of the chapel

More crutches and engraved plaques commemorating miracles granted through the intercession of St. Joseph

The living quarters of Brother Andre

Another view of Brother Andre's living quarters

It could be worse Milwaukee, at least UFO cults are not after you

TORONTO, Ontario, December 20, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Catholic school board to compensate three members of a prominent UFO cult after finding the board guilty of religious discrimination.

Daniel, Michel, and Sylvie Chabot, members of the Raelian cult, were hired in November 2006 by the Conseil Scolaire Catholique Franco-Nord to offer ‘emotional pedagogy’ training sessions for teachers. They delivered such sessions through what they call the Academy of Pleasurology and Emotional Intelligence (APEI).

The Catholic board chose to end the contract in January 2007 after discovering their membership in the cult, which claims that humans were planted on Earth by benevolent extraterrestrials.

On December 15th, Tribunal vice president Michelle Flaherty ruled that the board had discriminated against the three siblings on the basis of their beliefs. The parties had agreed to mediation, but asked the Tribunal to determine if the human rights code was violated. The decision does not reveal how much the board must pay in penalty.

The Raelian sect was founded by former French[why does that not surprise me] sports journalist Claude Vorilhon, now known as ‘Rael’, in 1973 after he claimed that he had an encounter with aliens. The cult is known for its strong support of human cloning, which is based on their belief that cloning will usher in a paradise where people live forever. [Aaaah, but what about overpopulation!  Or will the aliens take us to a bigger planet where we all get our own blue skinned avatar?]

Daniel Chabot, who calls himself a bishop, said they have filed dozens of human rights complaints, but this is the first to side with them. “It took us 17 years of relentless battles and one case[Ontario, the land of reason] before a Human [Now wait, I thought we were all aliens! How can this tribunal apply human laws to superior alien intelligence?] Rights Tribunal in Ontario to finally have our voices heard,” he stated in a press release. “This sentence was ironically delivered on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2010 and was, needless to say, a sweet victory.”

Ronald Demers, the school board’s chairman, told the Catholic Register that they will not appeal. LifeSiteNews.com did not hear back from the board by press time.

LifeSiteNews

It could be worse, we could live in Canada and send our kids to the "Academy of Pleasurology."   I think Rousseau could not have been more pleased to see this day.