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MONTREAL - Colombe Vermette was in the market for a saint - or rather, the exact likeness of soon-to-be saint and humble holy man, Brother Andre.
And while Sunday may be a traditional day of rest for many Catholics, she kept the staff hopping at Andre's old religious sanctuary as she sought an exact likeness.
When she was satisfied she'd selected just the right life-sized bust she declared: "That's the one that wants to come home with us."
As the statue was boxed and set aside for the bus ride to its new home in a church on Montreal's south shore, Vermette explained her hunt for the perfect icon.
"Some of the statues just don't look like him - the nose is too long, the face is too thin," she said, gesturing at the package.
"There's no resemblance. This one, there's a resemblance. This statue here is quite special. When we pray to him it will give us the feeling he's right there, with us."
In February, Pope Benedict recognized a second miracle attributed to Brother Andre, which paves the way to his canonization in St. Peter's Square in Rome on Oct. 17.
And sainthood, it seems, also offers its financial blessings. St. Joseph's Oratory, the landmark church and sanctuary founded by Andre, has been reaping some of the benefits.
Vermette was just one of many faithful browsing the goods at the Oratory boutique where Brother Andre has become a big draw.
"People come to get the medallions, the statues," said the basilica's Father Claude Grou. "There's been a renewed interest."
He believes the products give parishioners a sense of communion with the renowned faith-healer, and serve as an extension of the basilica's pastoral work.
"People who visit the Oratory want to bring something home that will keep that memory, that feeling, fresh. And there's a sense of being able to share his presence with others."
Last autumn, the gift shop launched a new collection of Brother Andre and St. Joseph objects, priced within the means of both the wealthy and the poor.
So to the sound of cash registers and soft classical music, and in the company of many saintly peers and venerable angels, countless Andre likenesses wait patiently to be sold.
His face peers from 10-cent prayer cards and 25-cent postcards. It peeks from key rings and calendars, and flashes from glow-in-the-dark statuettes and holographic images.
He graces magnetic bookmarks and bottles of holy water. A tiny metal replica can be purchased for 89 cents. A life-sized fibre glass number retails for near nine grand.
Andre's life story - from his birth as Alfred Bessette on Aug. 9, 1845, in St-Gregoire d'Iberville, Que., to his death at age 91 on Jan. 6, 1937 - is a top-seller and can be studied in books and on DVDs.
Quebecers have a strong connection to the man who will become the first saint who lived in modern-day Canada.
During the six days and nights before his funeral, more than one million people filed past his coffin. He was revered as the frail, semi-literate orphan who grew up to comfort the sick and build a magnificent shrine that still towers over Montreal's landscape.
Andre's heart still rests in a small shrine in the Oratory, where he was ultimately laid to rest.
The miracle that led to the final declaration of sanctity reportedly took place in the 1990s, though the church has not released further details.
Many, like Vermette, have family members who claim to have been helped by his powers of healing.
"He healed one of my aunts, really healed her, after eight years of tuberculosis."
It's a story echoed by Giselle Noel, who was contemplating the purchase of a Brother Andre postcard. He had given her mother relief from her heart disease, she said, and she now wanted to give the image to her ailing brother-in-law.
"It will give us faith," she said.
Vermette said there's also a more general feeling of homegrown pride in the soon-to-be-saint.
"Some people have faith in St. Anthony, others in our Virgin, or in St. Anne," Vermette said. "Brother Andre is a Quebecer. And we know what he looked like, there are photos of him. It's not simply an icon."
