|
|
| St.John de Brébeuf |  |
French Jesuit.
He wanted to enter the priesthood from an early age, but his health
was so bad there were
doubts he could make it.
His posting as a missionary to frontier Canada at age 32, however, was
a literal god-send.
He spent the rest of his life there, and the harsh and hearty climate
so agreed with him that the
Natives, surprised at his endurance, called him Echon, which meant
load bearer, and his
massive size made them think twice about sharing a canoe with him for
fear it would sink.
Brebeuf had great difficulty learning the Huron language.
However, he eventually wrote a catechism in Huron, and a French-Huron
dictionary for use by other missionaries.
By 1650 the Huron nation was exterminated, and the laboriously built
mission was abandoned.
But it proved to be "one of the triumphant failures that are commonplace
in the Church's history." These martyrdoms created a wave of vocations
and missionary fervor in France, and it
gave new heart to the missionaries in New France.
Died martyred in 1649 tortured to death by the Iroquois.
Canonization on 29 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI together with St. Gabriel Lalemant, St.Anthony Daniel, St.Charles Garnier and St.Noel Chabanel.
The five Jesuits named above were martyred in Canada and are commemorated
at the
Martyrs Shrine in Midland, Ontario.
All eight of the North American Martyrs ( with St.Issac
Jogues, St.John de la Lande and
St.Rene Goupil, martyred in today's USA
) were canonized by Pius XI on June 29, 1930.