Cecil Mager shared her memories of her cousin Andre on Sunday, hours after he became the first Canadian male to be canonized a saint in a ceremony at the Vatican.
Mager was born and raised in Saskatchewan and she lives in Winnipeg now.
She said her family used to visit St. Andre's family in Quebec.
Mager said he was humble, but strict about certain things. She recalled a story about visiting him with a cousin who had survived polio. When the cousin showed Andre her leg, which had been damaged by the disease, he told her to return when she was clothed, Mager recalled.
She also remembered a family story that she believes was a miracle.
Her mother and grandparents witnessed the miracle at wedding, she said. St. Andre spoke to a woman, who had been in a wheelchair all her life, telling her to get up and dance.
"He put his hand out, and she slowly walked. My mother has seen that, my grandparents have seen that, and she didn't go back to her wheelchair. She didn't dance a storm, but she walked," Mager said.
At the ceremony at the Vatican, the Pope told the thousands of faithful gathered for the ceremony, including hundreds of Canadians, that although St. Andre was poorly educated and working at a menial job, he was an inspiration to many faithful.
"(As) doorman at the Notre Dame College in Montreal, he showed boundless charity and did everything possible to soothe the despair of those who confided in him," Pope Benedict said.
