Canadian Martyrs
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The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs, were eight Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, who were martyred in the 17th century in Canada and Upstate New York. The Martyrs are St. Jean de Brébeuf (1649)[1], St. Noël Chabanel (1649)[2], St. Antoine Daniel (1648)[3], St. Charles Garnier (1649)[4], St. René Goupil (1642)[5], St. Isaac Jogues (1646)[6], St. Jean de Lalande (1646)[7], and St. Gabriel Lallemant (1649)[8].
They were each killed during the wars between the Huron and Iroquois. They had converted many of the Huron, although even among the Huron tribes they were not universally trusted. Many Huron considered them to be evil spirits who brought death and disease wherever they travelled. The Iroquois considered them legitimate targets as the missionaries were nominally allies of the Huron, and they had often helped organize resistance to Iroquois invasions.
They were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930[9]. The Martyrs' Shrine church in Midland, Ontario, the site of their missionary work among the Huron, and the North American Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, New York[10], along the Mohawk River, are dedicated to them. They are collectively patron saints of Canada, and form part of the dedication of the Canadian national church in Rome. Their feast day is celebrated on September 26 in Canada and on October 19 in the United States under the title of the North American Martyrs.
The title story of Tobias Wolff's collection of short stories, In the Garden of North American Martyrs, makes substantial allusion to the torture and killing of Jean de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues.
[edit] References
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 35, IV
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 40, LXXXIII
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 33, LXVII
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 40, LXXXIII
- ^ Jesuit Relations: 28, "Account of René Goupil (donné)," by Father Isaac Jogues
- ^ Jesuit Relations: 31, VIII
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 34, LXIV
- ^ Jesuit Relations vol 35, IV
- ^ Time Magazine July 7, 1930: The Pope's Week
- ^ Martyr's Shrine, Auriesville
