Isaac Jogues (1607-1646):
Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North
American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young
Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature
in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in
the New World, and in 1636 he and his companions, under the leadership
of John de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly
warred upon by the Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was
captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and
journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to
village, how they were beaten, tortured and forced to watch as their
Huron converts were mangled and killed.
An unexpected chance for
escape came to Isaac Jogues through the Dutch, and he returned to
France, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several fingers had been
cut, chewed or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to offer
Mass with his mutilated hands: "It would be shameful that a martyr of
Christ be not allowed to drink the Blood of Christ." Welcomed home as a
hero, Father Jogues might have sat back, thanked God for his safe
return and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal led him back
once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months he sailed
for his missions among the Hurons.
In 1646 he and Jean de
Lalande, who had offered his services to the missioners, set out for
Iroquois country in the belief that a recently signed peace treaty
would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war party, and on
October 18 Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de Lalande
was killed the next day at Ossernenon, a village near Albany, New York.
The
first of the Jesuit missionaries to be martyred was René Goupil who,
with Lalande, had offered his services as an oblate. He was tortured
along with Isaac Jogues in 1642, and was tomahawked for having made the
Sign of the Cross on the brow of some children.
Jean de Brébeuf (1593-1649):
Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the age of 32
and labored there for 24 years. He went back to France when the English
captured Quebec (1629) and expelled the Jesuits, but returned to his
missions four years later. Although medicine men blamed the Jesuits for
a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons, Jean remained with them.
He
composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron, and saw 7,000 converted
before his death. He was captured by the Iroquois and died after four
hours of extreme torture at Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada.
Father
Anthony Daniel, working among Hurons who were gradually becoming
Christian, was killed by Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was thrown
into his chapel, which was set on fire.
Gabriel Lalemant had
taken a fourth vow—to sacrifice his life to the Indians. He was
horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf.
Father Charles Garnier was shot to death as he baptized children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.
Father
Noel Chabanel was killed before he could answer his recall to France.
He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to mission life. He could not
learn the language, the food and life of the Indians revolted him, plus
he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay in Canada. Yet he
made a vow to remain until death in his mission.
These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in 1930.
Comment:
Faith
and heroism planted belief in Christ's cross deep in our land. The
Church in North America sprang from the blood of martyrs. Are we as
eager to keep that cross standing in our midst? Do we bear witness to
deep-seated faith in us, the Good News of the cross (redemption) into
our home, our work, our social world?
Quote:"My
confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for
accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give
ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his
work by our shortcomings" (from a letter of Isaac Jogues to a Jesuit
friend in France, September 12, 1646, a month before he died).