Montreal's Brother Andre will become a saint on Sunday in a ceremony at the Vatican to be presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.
Brother Andre, who is credited with numerous miraculous healings before his death in 1937, will be canonized along with five others at 10 a.m. local time.
In 1904, the Holy Cross brother founded Montreal's St. Joseph's Oratory, a landmark church on the northern slope of Mount Royal that receives about 2 million visitors every year.
CTV's Scott Laurie said it was the memories of visiting the church that spurred one Canadian couple to decide only a few days ago to journey to Rome to witness the event.
"They went there years ago and because of the effect that that visit had on them, and what they learned about Brother Andre, they were more than happy to decide to buy a plane ticket last Tuesday and get here on Thursday," Laurie told CTV News Channel in a telephone interview from Rome.
The decision to canonize Brother Andre was the result years of campaigning by supporters in Montreal. In 1940, the Archdiocese of Montreal and the Congregation of Holy Cross and St. Joseph's Oratory took up the cause, submitting a 4,000-page document in support of his sainthood to the Vatican in 1948.
As many as 10 million people also signed a petition calling for Brother Andre to be canonized.
Brother Andre was declared venerable in 1978 and beatified in 1982.
"Getting to this step where he is officially being recognized as a saint meant that people on his behalf had to present the Church with what they believed were true miracles, and the church really goes through everything with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that in fact what happened was a miracle," Laurie said.
When the Vatican announced in February its decision to canonize Brother Andre, Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte told The Canadian Press that the achievement is "like a gold medal in the Olympics. It's very important for Catholics and also for all the simple people who believe in God."
Brother Andre will join a small group of Canadian saints that includes Margaret d'Youville, who was born in 1701. D'Youville was the first saint born in what is now Canadian territory.
Canada's other saints are eight French-born Jesuit martyrs who were killed during wars in the 1640s, and Marguerite Bourgeoys, who was born in France in 1620. Bourgeoys and nurse Jeanne-Mance are considered the founders of Montreal.
With files from The Canadian Press
