Canadian Saints

Advice to missionaries by Saint François de Laval, bishop.

The talents that make good missionaries are:

The talents that make good missionaries are:

• To be filled with the spirit of God. This spirit must animate our words and our hearts, the mouth speaking from the abundance of the heart.
• To have a great prudence for the choice and the order of things to be done, either to enlighten the understanding, or to bend the will; all that does not aim to that end are lost words.
• To have a great application so as not to lose the moments of the salvation of souls and to make up for the negligence which steals into catechumens; because, as the devil on his part roams like a roaring lion, seeking whom to devour, so do we have to be vigilant against his attempts with care, kindness and love.
• To have nothing in our lives and in our morals that may seem to give the lie to what we say or that could indispose the minds and the hearts of those that we want to gain for God.
• One must win affection through one's kindness, patience and charity and to win over the spirits and the hearts to gain them for God; often a word of bitterness, an impatient gesture, an irksome look will destroy in a moment what had taken a long time to accomplish.
• The spirit of God requires a peaceful, meditative heart and not an anxious or inattentive heart. One must have a joyous and modest face, avoid mocking and inordinate laughter and generally all that is contrary to a holy and joyful modesty. May yours be recognized by all men.

1. Saint André Bessette
2. Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys
3. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
4. Saint Marie of the Incarnation
5. Saint François de Laval, bishop
6. Saint Jean de Brebeuf
7. Saint Gabriel Lalemant
8. St. Marguerite d'Youville
9. Saint Anne de Beaupré
10. Blessed Dina Belanger (Ste. Cécile of Rome)
11. Blessed Catherine of Saint Augustine
12. Blessed Frédéric Janssoone

Venerable Élisabeth Bruyère stated at the end of her life:

All was blessed by God because all has been accomplished in conformity with His Holy Will.

Intercessory Prayer for Canada:

We thank You, O God for the many blessings You have bestowed
on the people of Canada.
We thank You for the rich gifts of this land, and for those who teach us
to live in harmony with its resources.
We thank you for every person whose loving work, leadership and
ministry has helped this country shine with the light of Christ.
We ask you to bless this country of Canada; bless our families and
communities with Your peace.
Make us good stewards of its resources and inspire us to shine
with Christ's light in all that we do.
We make this prayer to you through this same Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.

May Almighty God bless us: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Background:

When you invoke St Joseph,
you don't have to say much.
Say, “if you were in my place,
St Joseph, what would you do?"
Well, pray for this on my behalf.

-St André Bessette

Intercessory Prayer:

Lord, you chose Brother André to spread devotion to Saint Joseph, and to dedicate his life to the poor and afflicted. Grant through his intercession the favour(s) that I now request…

[State your intentions…]

Grant me the grace to imitate his piety and charity, so that, with him, I may share the rewards promised to all who care for their neighbours out of love for you. I make this prayer in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Saint Brother André Bessette, Pray For Us

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Background:

Marguerite Bourgeoys grew up in Troyes, France. At the age of 20, she experienced a religious conversion which inspired her to dedicate her life to the service of God. Although she tried to join more than one religious order, she was denied entry. It seems God had other plans

Paul de Maisonneuve, the founder of the new settlement of Ville-Marie (later called Montreal) in New France. He invited Marguerite to take charge of education at Ville-Marie, and in 1653, she left France for a very different life.

Her Feast Day is 12^th January.

Intercessory Prayer:

O Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys,
who by your deep and lively faith in God received so many favours
from Heaven, obtain for me an increase of faith and the grace
which I so greatly need.

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

O Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys,
grant that like you I may place all my trust in Jesus my Saviour, in
order that, through your intercession, I may obtain the grace which I so
ardently desire.

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

O Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys,
consoler of the poor and of the sick, obtain for me a great love for
God and an ardent devotion toward the Mother of the Saviour,
in order that I may obtain the favour which I implore.

Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be…

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Protectress of Canada

Background:

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced [ˈɡaderi deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680). She contracted smallpox as a four-year-old child which scarred her skin. Worse, her entire family died during the outbreak. At age 19, Kateri Tekakwitha converted to Catholicism, taking a vow of chastity and pledging to marry only Jesus Christ. Her decision was very unpopular and to avoid persecution, she traveled to a Christian native community south of Montreal. Kateri was very devout and was known for her steadfast devotion. She was also very sickly. Sadly, just five years after her conversion to Catholicism, she became ill and passed away at age 24.

Her Feast Day is 17^th April.

Intercessory Prayer:

• Composed by Harold Caldwell

O Saint Kateri, Lily of the Mohawks,
Your love for Jesus, so strong, so steadfast,
pray that we may become like you.
Your short and painful life
showed us your strength and humility.
Pray that we may become forever humble like you.
Like the bright and shining stars at night,
we pray that your light
may forever shine down upon us,
giving light, hope, peacefulness and
serenity in our darkest moments.
Fill our hearts, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
with your same love for Jesus and
pray that we have the strength and courage
to become one like you in heaven.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

… St Kateri Tekakwitha, Pray for Us …

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Background:

Marie was born in 1599. She wanted to enter the religious life from a young age, but her family arranged a marriage for her with a wealthy silk merchant, Claude Martin. Claude died just a few months after their son was born, leaving Marie a widow at nineteen. Marie decided to pursue religious life. She longed to travel to the New World and spread the Christian faith there. Marie founded the first Ursuline Monastery in Quebec in 1642. Marie spent the remainder of her life working to educate all the women—French and native Canadian—in Quebec. Marie died on April 30, 1672.

Saint Joseph appeared to her and offered to guide her steps as she envisioned her life in Canada. He remained her protector, always close to Jesus and Mary.

Saint Marie's daily prayer to the Eternal Father:

It is through the Heart of Jesus, my way, my truth and my life, that I approach you, Eternal Father. Through this divine Heart, I adore you for all those who do not adore you; I love you for all those who do not love you; I praise you for all the wilfully blind who, out of contempt, do not recognize you. Through this divine Heart, I want to give the satisfaction which should be the duty of all.

Through this divine Heart, I want to make satisfaction for all. I embrace them in order to present them to you through him, and through him I beg for their conversion. Father, that they are not yet alive. Oh! give them life through this divine Heart.

On this adorable Heart as on a divine altar, I present to you all who labour for the Gospel so that through the merits of this divine Heart they may be filled with your Spirit.

You know, 0 my Beloved, all that I want to say to your Father through your divine Heart. Whatever I address to you I address to the Father, because you are in your Father and your Father is in you. I present to you all these souls, including my own; make us all one with you.

… St Marie of the Incarnation, Pray for Us …

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Background:

Saint François de Laval was the first Bishop of New France. His diocesan territory originally included most of what is now Canada, much of upper New England and all the Mississippi Valley. He is admired for his pastoral work among the Aboriginal Peoples and the settlers of New France. He was especially committed to education, founding both a major and a minor seminary. The Séminaire de Québec, which later established Laval University.

François de Laval was known for his commitment to evangelization and his generosity to the poor. His Feast Day is 6^th May.

May they (missionaries)persuade themselves that being sent to work on the conversion of infidels, they have the most important employment to be found in the Church; which should oblige them, to become worthy instruments of God, to improve themselves in all the virtues suitable for an apostolic missionary, often meditating, like did Saint Francis Xavier, the patron saint and the ideal of missionaries, on the words of the Gospel: "What gain is it for a man to have won the whole universe if he suffers detriment to his soul?

-St. François de Laval

Intercessory Prayer:

Praise to You, God our Father, for François de Laval,
first pastor of the Church in North America.

May he guide us to Your Kingdom. As he travelled the wide-open spaces of
this continent, bearing witness to the Good News of Your Son, may he
help us walk together in the wake of Christ our Lord.

May this man of prayer, always mindful of Your mystery, teach us to heed
Your Word and remain faithful to Your Spirit.

May this Apostle of unity and peace inspire in us the acts of mutual
forgiveness couched in respect for our fellow human beings.

Through his attention to each family's happiness, May he help us
discover, by our covenant with You, the source of our love and the
heights it can attain.

Praise to You, God our Father, for François de Laval.

Glory be to You For ever and ever. Amen

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Jesuit Martyr of North America

Background:

Brébeuf is credited with composing the "Huron Carol", Canada's oldest Christmas song, written around 1642. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people. The song's melody is based on a traditional French folk song, "Une Jeune Pucelle" (A Young Maid).

Brébeuf was killed at St. Ignace in Huronia on March 16, 1649. He had been taken captive with Gabriel Lalemant when the Iroquois destroyed the Huron mission village at Saint-Louis. The Iroquois took the priests to the occupied village of Taenhatenteron (also known as St. Ignace), where they subjected the missionaries and native converts to ritual torture before killing them. His Feast Day is 26^th September.

…Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for according to his own words, God will take care of him…Wisdom 2:20

My God and my Saviour Jesus, What return can I make to You for all the benefits You have conferred on me?

I make a vow to You never to fail, on my side, in the grace of martyrdom, if by Your infinite mercy, You offer it to me some day.

-St Jean de Brébeuf

Intercessory Prayer:

O God,
Who inflamed the heart of your blessed martyr Jean with
an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant us,
we beseech Thee, our petitions and the requests

[insert your intention.]

we mention here today, so that the favours obtained through his
intercession may make manifest before men Your power and the glory of
Your name. Amen.

Holy Martyr St. Jean de Brebeuf, pray for us!

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Jesuit Martyr of North America

Background:

Saint Gabriel Lalemant a Jesuit at nineteen, ordained at twenty-seven, a scholar and professor and a College administrator, delicate in body had a strong desire for the Mission of Huronia.

After two years in Canada he left for Huronia. After seven months in Huronia, he was able to speak the Native tongue. For one month he was assistant to Brébeuf and then his companion in Martyrdom for seventeen long hours. He died March 17, 1649 at St. Ignace. He summed up his own strength, “My strength is the strength of God. In Him, I can do all things." His Feast Day is 26^th September.

Father Brébeuf and Gabriel were captured and tortured to death. Gabriel's only cry was "Jesus, have mercy on us!" Both joined the growing list of martyrs who died while bringing Christianity to the New World.

Intercessory Prayer:

St. Gabriel Lalemant who, notwithstanding weakness
and ill health and the appeals of family and friends,
generously gave yourself to the work of saving souls,
and in so doing sacrificed your life by a cruel death,
intercede for me and obtain detachment from the things of this world.

Let me be strong in the freedom of the children of God
and follow your example so that I may share your reward in Heaven.
Amen.

Father, that you may be better known and loved.
3 x Our Father

Jesus that you may be better known and loved.
3 x Hail Mary

Holy Spirit, that you may be better known and loved.
3 x Glory Be

Closing Prayer:

Take Lord all my liberty.
Receive my memory, my understanding, my whole will; all that I have
and possess. You have given all to me, I return it all to you.
Do with me as you will.  Amen.

Holy Martyr St. Gabriel Lalemant, pray for us!

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Mother of Universal Charity

Background:

Born in Varennes, Canada, Marie Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais at the age of 12 helped her widowed mother. Eight years later she married François d'Youville. Despite the fact that her husband gambled, sold liquor illegally to Native Americans, and treated her indifferently, she cared for him compassionately until his death in 1730. Once her children were grown, she and several companions rescued a Quebec hospital that was in danger of failing. She called her community the Institute of the Sisters of Charity of Montreal; the people called them the “Grey Nuns” because of the color of their habits. The General Hospital in Montreal became known as the Hôtel Dieu (House of God). Her Feast Day is 16^th October.

Words of Mother d'Youville, 14 December 1771:

“My dear Sisters, be constantly faithful to the duties of the state that you have embraced. Walk always in the path of regularity, obedience, and mortification. But above all, let the most perfect union reign among you.” 

All the wealth in the world cannot be compared with the happiness of living together happily united.

-Saint Marguerite d'Youville

Intercessory Prayer:

O St. Marguerite d'Youville, lady of love and compassion
your life is like a passage from the Gospel and an inspiration for our lives.

Through your eyes, make us aware of the most urgent needs of our era.

Through your ears, make us aware of the cries of the suffering and the anguished.

Through your hands, give us the strength to heal the wounded and appease the suffering.

And through your love, make us spread divine tenderness through love without boundary. Amen.

… St Marguerite d'Youville, Pray for Us …

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Background:

The shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre, was founded even before Quebec was recognized in 1664 as North America's first parish. The shrine was founded by construction of a small chapel in 1658. Quebec's first bishop, Francois de-Montmerency de Laval recognized the special devotion by French colonists to the Holy Family, and particularly St. Anne, a devotion prominently shared by Canada's native peoples as well.

In 1670 Laval brought relics of St. Anne, the mother of Mary, to the little village of Beaupre from the Cathedral in Carcassonne, France, as well as a wooden statue still displayed at the shrine.

Prayer to St. Anne de Beaupré:

Saint Anne, I began my journey and became a pilgrim so that I might get close to you. In the midst of my human travels, I come to you with my weariness and my dreams, with my painful struggles as well as the many things for which I am thankful.

Saint Anne, you experienced the joy of bringing the Immaculate Virgin into the world, and holding Jesus our Savior in your motherly arms. May you be praised for having witnessed these marvels. May you also be praised for the love which you constantly show us.

Teach us to be open to serving others, to be willing to give and forgive, to treasure silence and to pray. To your care, we entrust those individuals who are most dear to us, as well as our world on its quest of hope.

Lead us to Jesus so that our entire life may become a pilgrimage towards the Father. Good Saint Anne, patroness of pilgrims, pray for us. Amen.

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THE LITTLE FLOWER OF CANADA

During the course of her life as a Nun her devotion to the Blessed Sacrament transformed her into a woman of infectious joy. It was revealed to her, through revelations from the Lord Himself, the power of a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Here are some of her quotes, and some of the messages from the Lord Jesus to her, about the importance of Eucharistic Adoration in our lives:

From what God had given me to understand about Himself, these last days, the presence of Jesus in the Sacred Host became clear to me. Yesterday and this morning, the same supernatural understanding. The veil of mystery is torn asunder. He is there, my God, Infinite Unity, the Adorable Trinity, under the appearance of a fragment of bread. He is there, Jesus with His Sacred Humanity, His Body, His Precious Blood, His Soul, with His Eternal Divinity; He is there, whole and entire, in each consecrated Host in the whole universe and in each particle of a consecrated Host.

Exterior things had no place in my thoughts which were centred on Him Who was to become my guest. Great was my happiness! Jesus was mine and I was His. This first intimate union left in my soul, together with other graces, a hunger for His Body and Blood, a hunger which increased with each ensuing visit.

It was my greatest joy each morning to approach the Altar and unite myself with our Divine Saviour.

If souls understood what treasure they possess in the Divine Eucharist it would be necessary to protect tabernacles with impregnable ramparts, because in the delerium of a holy and devouring hunger they would go themselves to feed on the manna of the Seraphim. Churches at night as in daytime would overflow with worshippers, wasting away with love for the august prisoner.

The Eucharistic Heart draws me more and more to the Sacred Host. As I pass near the chapel, I am moved by an irresistible impulse to enter. Near the tabernacle I experience an indefinable joy. When the Blessed Sacrament is exposed I am enraptured, paralyzed, as it were, by the Eucharistic Heart. When I leave the Chapel, I am obliged to wrench myself from the Divine Prisoner.

Holy Communion, for a soul consumed in Jesus, is the outpouring of the Infinite, the pleasure of sovereign perfection in supreme Beauty, the gift of the Eternal to the Uncreated, the embrace of God the Father and His Word which engenders the Spirit of Love, an outpouring of love between the three adorable persons, an effusion of tenderness from the Heart of indivisible Unity.

Our Lord spoke to me of the love of His Agonizing Heart. He made clear to me that, in the angel sent to console Him in Gethsemane, He saw all souls, and particularly all consecrated souls, who in the centuries to come would wish to share in His sufferings.

Our Redeemer longs to pardon and forget. He often awaits only a gesture or a thought of love on our part to grant an extraordinary grace to some sinner. To save a single soul and to glorify You, I would be happy, with your grace, to suffer in the place of this soul, if it were necessary.

It is His Eucharistic Heart that is making me realize a little His inconceivable love. I hear every moment His divine sigh: “I have desired with great desire to eat this Passover with you.” He always yearns to give Himself.

Jesus said to Bl. Dina Belanger – “My Heart overflows with graces for souls. Lead them to my Eucharist Heart.”

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Background:

Catherine of Saint Augustine (1632-1668) was an Augustinian Hospitaller Sister of the Mercy of Jesus who volunteered to go to her community's mission in Quebec. Her family was strongly opposed to the idea. Her father even tried to get the French courts to stop her. But Catherine was firmly resolved to serve the sick and the poor of Quebec. She arrived there in 1648. Later on her father came to accept his daughter's mission there.

In spite of spiritual dryness and a debilitating long-term illness, Catherine was consistently loving, kind, and gracious toward all.

She died May 8, 1668. She was 36 years old. She is considered to be one of the founders of the Catholic Church in Canada. Her Feast Day is 8^th May.

Blessed Catherine of St. Augustine was beatified by Pope John Paul on April 1989. Pope John Paul II said of her in his homily, "Among the founders of the Church of Canada in its spiritual springtime can be numbered Marie Catherine, this Augustinian whose hand, as well as her heart, was nothing other than charity."

Intercessory Prayer:

O Glorious Blessed Catherine, virgin and missionary, I invoke your intercession from your place in heaven. Pray that we may have the strength to trust in God when our body is weak and we feel spiritual dryness. Shower prayers upon us that we may have the patience and love to bear all for the Lord. May we always listen closely to the direction of our Lord and have the grace to discern His Will for us.  Please pray for us Blessed Catherine that we may have the strength in body and spirit to follow God’s direction and the courage to follow it through as you did here on earth. Please carry our petitions before the Lord. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen

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The Guardian of Notre Dame du Cap

Background:

Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, O.F.M. (1838 – 1916) hailed from France, from the town of Ghyvelde, in the northwest most corner, where the language was Flemish, and not French. After a difficult and impoverished, but holy and pious, upbringing, he joined the Friars Minor, spending his years of priestly ministry as custos of the sacred sites of the Holy Land, a spiritual ministry given to the Franciscans since the Middle Ages. In 1881, he came to Canada for the first time and went back to Palestine in 1882. Canada still beckoned, and Father Janssoone returned in 1888, spending the last three decades of his life here, preaching, converting, raising funds, writing. His home base was the shrine of Notre-Dame-du-Cap, outside Trois-Rivières. He was asked to use his many gifts to revivify the shrine. It was also he who brought the Friars Minor, the reformed Franciscans, back to this country.

In 1881, he came to Canada for the first time and went back to Palestine in 1882. Canada still beckoned, and Father Janssoone returned in 1888, spending the last three decades of his life here, preaching, converting, raising funds, writing. His home base was the shrine of Notre-Dame-du-Cap, outside Trois-Rivières. He was asked to use his many gifts to revivify the shrine. It was also he who brought the Friars Minor, the reformed Franciscans, back to this country.

It was at this shrine in 1879 that the miracle of the ‘ice bridge’ occurred. The people had been given permission to build a new church at the shrine, but they had to transport the materials across the Saint Lawrence, a mile-and-a-half wide. That year, however, the river didn’t freeze. The people prayed the Rosary and sought Our Lady’s help for the river to freeze. Lo and behold, on the very solemnity of Saint Joseph, March 19th, a bridge of ice formed across the river, wide and solid enough to transport all the materials, with open water on either side. The miraculous bridge lasted until the Annunciation, March 25th, just long enough to get everything across. The church was duly built, and still stands.

Soon enough, miracles abounded, including the statue of Our Lady of the Cape – a copy of how the Mother of God was said to have appeared to Catherine Labouré in Paris in 1830 – when, on June 22, 1888, soon after Father Janssoone’s second arrival here, on the inauguration day of the shrine, he was in the chapel with two others, a fellow Franciscan and a parishioner. To their surprise, the statue’s face became life-like, and Our Lady opened her eyes for five to ten minutes.

The long and fruitful apostolic life of Father Janssoone ended on the 4th of August, 1916, after a pain-stricken battle with stomach cancer.  He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25th, 1988, and this great and noble Franciscan now intercedes for this, his adopted country.

Intercessory Prayer:

Almighty and eternal God,
You granted to Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, son of France,
To follow the footsteps of your Son Jesus in the Holy Land,
And to work there for peace.
Then You led him to Canada,
To invite that nation to be generous toward the Holy Land,
To found the sanctuary of Cap-de-la-Madeleine,
And to make known the life of Jesus of Nazareth and His most holy Mother.

Grant us to become in turn,
True pilgrims and veritable missionaries of your Church.
That we may be equally solid pillars
Of the faith in our Christian communities.
Grant us, through his intercession, the favour that we ask…
Grant this son of Saint Francis of Assisi
To be canonized soon,
And to draw us all toward Your Son, Jesus our Lord. Amen
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be…

(Approved by the Ordinary of Trois-Rivieres, Nov. 26, 2013)

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