Saint Isaac Jogues and companions, Saint of the day for October 19th

Saint of the day for October 19th
(† 1642-1649)

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 culture 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 Jean de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly attacked by the Iroquois and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and diaries tell how he and his companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured and forced to watch as their converted Hurons were mangled and killed.

An unexpected possibility of escape came to Isaac Jogues through the Dutch, and he returned to France, bearing the marks of his suffering. Several fingers had been cut, chewed or burned. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to offer the Mass with his mutilated hands: "It would be shameful if a martyr of Christ could not drink the Blood of Christ".

Welcomed home like a hero, Father Jogues could have sat down, thanked God for his safe return, and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal once again brought him back to the realization of his dreams. In a few months he set sail for his missions among the Hurons.

In 1646, he and Jean de Lalande, who had offered his services to the missionaries, left for the Iroquois country in the belief that a recently signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war group and on 18 October Father Jogues was tomahawk and beheaded. Jean de Lalande was killed the next day in 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 making the sign of the cross on the foreheads of some children.

Father Anthony Daniel, who worked among the Hurons who were gradually becoming Christians, was killed by the Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was thrown into his chapel, which was set on fire.

Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who arrived in Canada at the age of 32 and worked there for 24 years. He returned to France when the British conquered Quebec in 1629 and expelled the Jesuits, but returned on a mission four years later. Although the sorcerers blamed the Jesuits for a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons, Jean stayed with them.

He composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron and saw 7.000 converts before his death in 1649. Captured by the Iroquois in Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada, Father Brébeuf died after four hours of extreme torture.

Gabriel Lalemant had made a fourth vow: to sacrifice his life for the Native Americans. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf.

Father Charles Garnier was shot to death in 1649 while baptizing children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.

Father Noel Chabanel was also killed in 1649, before he could respond to his call in France. He had found it extremely difficult to adjust to mission life. He could not learn the language, and the food and life of the Indians turned him upside down, plus he suffered from spiritual dryness throughout his stay in Canada. Yet he vowed to remain in his mission until his death.

These eight Jesuit martyrs from North America were canonized in 1930.

Reflection

Faith and heroism have planted faith in the cross of Christ in the depths of our land. The Church in North America was born of the blood of martyrs, as has happened in so many places. The ministry and sacrifices of these saints challenge each of us, making us wonder how deep our faith is and how strong our desire to serve even in the face of death.