The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

Local news

Related Photos

  • Saint Andre Bessette

    St. Andre Bessette use.jpg

Discussion

January 8, 2011

Enid man's cousin named saint in Catholic Church

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — Alfred Joseph Mochon moved to Enid two years ago when he was just an ordinary guy.

As of Oct. 17, 2010, he is more than just an ordinary guy: He is the cousin of a Catholic saint. Mochon’s cousin is Alfred Bessette, who became Saint Andre in October. Saint Andre was canonized because of his devotion to Saint Joseph and his ability to heal people through Saint Joseph, according to Vatican records.

“My mother told me about him all my life, she thought a lot of him,” Mochon said.

Bessette grew up in Montreal, and when his parents died when he was 15, he was adopted by the brothers at a small church, the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Montreal. He left Montreal and worked in the United States briefly, but did not like it and returned to the church where he became Brother Andre. He was the doorman at the church and had a pleasant personality and the ability to joke with people and make them feel comfortable.

Andre also had the ability to tell if someone was ill and told them to pray to Saint Joseph, who was his patron saint. He also prayed for them and people began to be healed. Eventually, people began to seek him out for healing, and he was known as a miracle worker.

When he died at age 91, more than a million people came to pay him their respects, and millions of others have remained devoted to Brother Andre.

Mochon is a cousin of Bessette, dating back to his great-grandparents. Since Bessette was born in 1845 and Mochon in 1945, he never knew him, but heard his mother talk of him. Generations of men in the Mochon family have the middle name Joseph, including his own children.

Mochon said his mother told him he inherited his cousin’s pleasant nature. Mochon, a retired AT&T sales manager, has a ministry of his own. He volunteers at Our Daily Bread and participates in an inter-faith Bible study at Denny Price Family YMCA. He has visited two churches in Enid, in addition to his home church, Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

“I told the people in my Bible study that I would make it to their church,” he said.

Mochon was born and raised in upper New York, moving to Indiana, where his house was destroyed by a tornado and he lost much of the information his mother gave him about his cousin.

Mochon said being the cousin of a saint has been a good experience. He was born 100 years after his cousin, but he also has Saint Joseph as his patron saint. Two years ago he came to Enid, where he has children living and said he likes it.

“I like living in Enid. There are a lot of people with the Lord here,” he said.

Text Only
Local news