Canadian Martyrs

Jean de Brebeuf, born in Normandy, March 25, 1593. He mastered the Indian language and worked through all the district of Huronia. He founded Mission-outposts, converted thousands to the faith. Massive in body, strong yet gentle in character. He made a vow signed in his blood, never to refuse the offer of Martyrdom if asked to die for Christ. His visions of his future Martyrdom were fulfilled when captured March 16, 1649 and tortured for hours. He was martyred at the age of 56. Brebeuf is said to have the heart of a giant. He was known as the apostle of the Hurons. The Indians called him Echon.

Isaac Jogues, born in Orleans, January 10, 1610. He came to Canada in 1636. He set out at once for Huronia where he supplied at Mission outposts, instructing and baptizing. He was captured by the Iroquois, brutally tortured, and made a slave. He escaped to France and returned a year later in Canada. He was sent as an emissary to discuss a treaty with the Iroquois. They blamed him for the disaster of a harvest failure. He was seized at Auriesville, N.Y. and cruelly beaten. A blow from a tomahawk gave him the crown of Martyrdom on October 18, 1646, at the age of 39.

Gabriel Lalemant, born in Paris, October 10, 1610. His ambition was to labor in the Missions and he asked to be sent to the Canadian Missions. In 1646, his repeated request to be sent to New France was granted. In Canada, he arrived in Huronia in September 1648 where in words of Scriptures, he was destined to complete a long time in a short space. He was sent to assist Brebeuf with whom he was captured and tortured for seventeen hours at the stake. Gabriel Lalemant died on March 17, 1649, at the age of 39.

Anthony Daniel, born in Normandy, May 27, 1601. He turned from the lure of worldly honors and answered a strong call to the Missions of Canada. He mastered the language and dreamed of forming future catechists among the Hurons who would instruct their tribe. He encouraged the converts to meet death as Christian should when his Mission was attacked by the Iroquois. He hastily baptized all he could and went out to face the enemy. His body was pierced with arrows and bullets. The Iroquois set fire to the Chapel and threw his body into the flames. He was martyred on July 4, 1648, at the age of 48.

Charles Garnier, born in Paris, May 25, 1606. He came to Huronia and labored thirteen years among the Hurons and Petuns. He had a strong devotion to Our Lady whom he acknowledged looked after him as a youth. Gentle, innocent, fearless, he succeeded in winning many souls to God among the Petuns.  He was a victim of a massacre during which he suffered a blow of an Iroquois tomahawk on December 7, 1649, at the age of 43.

Noel Chabanel, born in Saugues, February 2, 1613. Experiencing a strong desire to consecrate himself to the Canadian Missions, he arrived in Huronia in 1643. The enthusiasm of the young missionary quickly lost its glamour. Unable to learn the Indian language, feeling useless in ministry, sensitive to the surroundings, his was to be one unbroken chain of disappointments, an ordeal that he immediately called himself a “bloodless Martyrdom. For two years he stood in the shadow of dead and was slain secretly by an apostate Huron on December 8, 1649 at the age of 36.

Rene Goupil, born in Anjou, May 15, 1608. He studied medicine and then offered his services to the Jesuit Missions in Canada. He arrived in 1640 and served French colonists and native converts with patience and charity. He was captured with Isaac Jogues in 1642. On the journey to Mohawk country he begged Isaac Jogues to receive his vows. A month later he was martyred for making the sign of the cross on a little Indian child. He was martyred at Auriesville, N.Y. on September 29, 1642, at the age of 34.