Today we celebrate the feast of the Canadian Martyrs, Saints we in this country know little about so I thought I would share with you two short lives of the two leading Saints today. I am grateful to the Parish of Canadian Martyrs in Ottawa, Canada for these excerpts.
St Jean de Brébeuf, S.J. was born March 25, 1593 in Normandy, France and ordained into the priesthood at the age of 33.
Fr. de Brébeuf was the first of the Jesuit missionaries in Huronia on the shores of Georgian Bay, arriving in 1626. He was a large man, very strong, yet gentle in character. He worked throughout Huronia for 20 years, becoming a master of the native languages and learning the local native customs and practices, so as to develop the best approach to teaching them about Christ. He established mission outposts and taught the Jesuit newcomers the native languages so that they too could teach the Word. He is credited with writing the first dictionary of the Huron language.
While respectful of the mighty “Echon” (meaning ‘he who carries heavy load’), the most powerful of the Black Robes (a term referring to Fr. de Brébeuf’s daily dress), the Hurons were a superstitious people. They allowed only their dying children and infirmed adults to be baptized. In 1640, when they had suffered from drought and illness for several years, they decided it must be because of the Black Robes, and they began to harass the missions and the missionaries.
As a young priest, Fr. de Brébeuf had made a vow never to refuse the offer of martyrdom if asked to die for Christ. By 1649, the possibility of martyrdom was ever more present. Although now an important ally of the Hurons and known as the “Apostle of the Hurons,” he and fellow Jesuit, Gabriel Lalemant, were captured by the warring Mohawk, bound to a cross and tortured for hours. With incredible courage, he continued to encourage the Christian Hurons who were suffering with him to endure the pain in return for everlasting Heaven. He was martyred on March 16, 1649 at St. Ignace at the age of 56.
On June 21, 1925, Pope Pius XI beatified Fr. Jean de Brébeuf. His canonization took place on June 29, 1930 and his feast is celebrated on October 19 in the United States and September 26 in Canada.
St Isaac Jogues, S.J. was born January 10, 1607 in France. He was 29 when he set out for Canada and the missions of Huronia, and he had been a priest for just seven months.
Fr. Jogues arrived in Huronia in 1636 and spent three years serving mission outposts, instructing and baptizing. He lived with the Hurons in Sainte-Marie, a flourishing village. Though happy and successful in Sainte-Marie, he desired more of a challenge, and prayed that he could have the opportunity to undergo any hardship so as to implant faith in the native people of Huronia.
Fr. Jogues’ prayers were answered. The Iroquois Nation was again at war with the French and on a journey from Quebec City in 1642, he was captured by the Mohawk tribe, brutally tortured and made a slave. He lived with the Mohawks for 13 months, during which time he ministered to the Christian Hurons who had been captured with him.
Fr. Jogues returned to France a hero and was referred to as the “living martyr”. Given dispensation by Pope Urban VII, Isaac was able to say mass in spite of his mutilated hands. His stay in France was not long as he yearned for missionary work. He returned to Canada the very next year, sent by the French government to discuss a peace treaty with the Indian nations.
The members of the Mohawk tribe to whom he had been a slave were surprised to see Fr. Jogues now dressed as an ambassador of a powerful nation. He was successful at getting many of the warring Indian tribes to sign peace treaties with France and he wanted to go back to the Mohawks as a missionary. However, by 1646, the Mohawks were on the war path again and while journeying through Indian land, he was captured and cruelly beaten. A tomahawk blow to the head killed him on October 18, at the age of 39.
On June 21, 1925, Pope Pius XI beatified Fr. Isaac Jogues. His canonization took place on June 29, 1930 and his feast is celebrated on October 19 in the United States and on September 26 in Canada. Saint Isaac is also known as the patron saint of diplomats, having returned to the Mohawk people on a mission of people on a mission of peace.