Saints and Blesseds of the Americas

By Fr. Daniel P. Ewald

Kirkus Discoveries book review:

Part devotional guide, part encyclopedia, Saints and Blesseds of the Americas will find a welcome
place on the shelves of a new generation of Catholics.
Ewalds tidy collection provides an exhaustive, country-by-country listing of all the Catholic saints
and blesseds of the Western world. In Catholic theology, saints serve as intercessors between humanity and
God; blessedsthose who have undergone the process of beatificationare only one step away from
becoming saints. Believers pray to either for aid in any number of life pursuits. Perhaps the most gratifying
aspect of this catalogue is the fact that it is extremely up to date. Ewald provides not only the saints and
blesseds of old but also those recently beatified and canonized. For example, he presents the Blessed
Lindalva Justo de Oliveira, martyred in 1993 and beatified by Pope Benedict XVI just last year. This is a timely reference guide at least in part
because the previous popeJohn Paul IIwas a prolific supporter of the path to sainthood. According to the Vatican, Pope John Paul II
beatified and canonized more individuals than all the popes of the past five centuries combined. Thus, Ewald fulfills an important role in
bringing his devout readership up to speed. But currentness is not the volumes only strength. Ewald paints quick but thorough sketches of his
many subjects. His brief biographies never run much more than a page or two, but he has an eye for the fine points, and his portraits are always
extremely pertinentthere are as few wasted details as there are wasted words. However, though his book serves best as a reference volume, it
also provides a surprisingly gratifying reading experience. Ewald has the skill of a storyteller, and each biography features a neat narrative arc.
A helpful compendium to the heroes of the American Catholic Church.
Ewald, Fr. Daniel P.
SAINTS AND BLESSEDS
OF THE AMERICAS
Xlibris (318 pp.)
2008
ISBN: 978-1-4363-6762-2
Paper: 978-1-4363-6761-5
Kirkus Discoveries, Nielsen Business Media, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
[e-mail]

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 23, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462840229

Book preview

Saints and

Blesseds

of the

Americas

Fr. Daniel P. Ewald

Copyright © 2009 by Fr. Daniel P. Ewald.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Introduction

Saints and Blesseds who visited the New World

Saints Who Visited the New World

Saint Francis Serrano Frias (1695-1749)

18 Blesseds who visited the New World

Saints and Blesseds -of Canada

Five North American Martyrs of Canada

Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700)

Saint Marie Marguerite d’Youville (1701-1771)

Blessed Andrew Grasset de St. Sauveur (1758-1792)

Blessed Mary of the Incarnation (1599-1672)

Blessed Francis of Montmorency-Laval (1623-1708)

Blessed Andre Bessette (1846-1937)

Blessed Mary Rose Durocher (1811-1849)

Blessed Mary Leonie Paradis (1840-1912)

Blessed Luis Zephrin Moreau (1824-1901)

Blessed Frederick Jansoone (1838-1916)

Blessed Mary Catherine of St. Augustine (1632-1668)

Blessed Marie Sainte-Cecile de Rome [Dina Belanger]

(1897-1929)

Blessed Anne Blondin (1809-1890)

Saints and Blesseds of the United States

North American Martyrs: Martyrs of Auriesville (1642 and 1646)

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917)

Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821)

Saint John Neumann (1811-1860)

Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne (1769-1852)

Saint Katharine Drexel (1858-1955)

Saint Theodore Guerin (1798-1856)

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680)

Blessed Juniper Serra (1713-1784)

Blessed Damien Joseph de Vuester (1840-1889)

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867)

Blessed Marianne Cope (1838-1918)

Blessed Frances Schervier (1819-1876)

Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodriguez Santiago (1918-1963)

Saints and Blesseds of Mexico

Five Saints of Mexico

Saints Cristobal Magallanes and 24 Companions

Saint Jose Maria de Yermo y Parres (1851-1904)

Saint Maria de Jesus Sacramentado Venegas (1868-1959)

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548)

Saint Rafael Guizar y Valencia (1878-1938)

Blessed Sebastian de Aparicio (1502-1600)

10 Blessed Mexican Martyrs of Japan

Blessed Miguel Augustin Pro (1891-1927)

Three Indian Children Martyrs of Tlazcala

Three Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

Blessed Maria Vicenta of St. Dorothy Chavez Orozco (1867-1949)

Two Martyrs of Mexico

Blessed Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala (1878-1936)

13 Martyrs in Mexico

Saints and Blesseds of Guatemala

Saint Peter de Betancurt (1626-1667)

Saints and Blesseds of Costa Rica

Blessed Maria Romero Meneses (1902-1977)

Saints and Blesseds of Colombia

Saint Louis Bertrand (1526-1581)

Saint Peter Claver (1581-1654)

Saint Francis Solano (1549-1610)

Saint Ezequiel Moreno y Dias (1848-1906)

Seven Blessed Colombians, Brothers of St. John of God

Blessed Luigi Variara (1875-1923)

Blessed Caritas Brader (1860-1943)

Blessed Laura Montoya Upequi (1874-1949)

Saints and Blesseds of Surinamee

Blessed Peter Donders (1809-1887)

Saints and Blesseds of French Guiana

Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey (1779-1851)

Saints and Blesseds of Cuba

Saint Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870)

Blessed Dolores Rodriguez Sopena (1848-1918)

Saints and Blesseds of Venezuela

Blessed Maria de San Jose Alvarado Cardozo (1875-1967)

Blessed Candelaria of St. Joseph (1863-1940)

Saints and Blesseds of Brazil

Saint Pauline of the Suffering Heart of Jesus (1865-1942)

Saint Anthony of Saint Anne Galvao (1739-1822)

Blessed Ignatius Azevedo (1528-1570)

Blessed Jose de Anchieta (1534-1597)

Blessed Andre de Soveral, Blessed Ambrosio Francisco Ferro and the Blessed Martyrs of Brazil (28 companions)

Blessed Mariano de la Mata Aparicio (1905-1983)

Blessed Eustaquio van Lieshout (1890-1943)

Blessed Albertina Berkenbrock (1919-1931)

Blessed Emmanuel Gomez Gonzalez (1877-1924)

Blessed Lindalva Justo de Oliveira (1953-1993)

Saints and Blesseds of Ecuador

Saint Mariana of Jesus (1618-1645)

Saint Miguel Febres Cordero (1854-1910)

Saint Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran (1832-1869)

Saint Mary Bernard Butler(1848-1924)

Blessed Mercedes de Jesus Molina (1828-1883)

Saints and Blesseds of Peru

Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617)

Saint Turibius of Mogroviejo (1538-1606)

Saint Martin de Porres (1579-1639)

Saint John Masias (1586-1645)

Blessed Ann of the Angels Monteagudo (1602-1686)

Blessed Luigi Tezza (1841-1923)

Blessed Ascension of the Heart of Jesus Nicol Goni (1868-1940)

Saints and Blesseds of Bolivia

Blessed Nazaria Ignacio March (1889-1943)

Saints and Blesseds of Paraguay

Martyrs of Paraguay (1628)

Saints and Blesseds of Chile

Saint Teresa of the Andes (1900-1920)

Saint Alberto Hurtado (1901-1952)

Saints and Blesseds of Argentina

Blessed Benito de Jesus ((1910-1934)

Blessed Laura del Carmen Vicuna (1891-1904)

Blessed Artemide Zatti (1880-1951)

Blessed Maria del Transito Cabarillas (1821-1885)

Blessed Maria Ludovica de Angelis (1880-1962)

Blessed Zepherin Namuncura (1886-1905)

Saints and Blesseds of Uruguay

Blessed Mary Frances Of Jesus (1844-1904)

Saints and Blesseds who made Apostolic Visits to the Americas

Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975)

Saint Luigi Orione (1872-1940)

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

Blessed James Alberione (1884-1971)

Bibliography

Introduction

The lives of the Saints and Blesseds have always held a special place in my life. I remember as a young boy watching the television and when a bloody scene was presented I would get sick. My mother said that if I would become a priest I would most probably have to see bloody scenes. I ran out of the living room into the kitchen. My mother came and asked me what I was doing. On the refrigerator there was a list of Saints to pray to for different reasons. They are special patrons for different things. I told my mother that I was looking for the Saint to overcome the fear of blood. After working more than twelve years in hospitals and most of the time in the emergency room, I truly believe the Saints were listening to my request.

This book presents Saints and Blesseds that are related in some way to the American Continents. Some only passed through the Americas in route to the missions in other lands. There are Saints and Blesseds that made apostolic trips to their extended apostolic families. Some were born in the Americas and went to other lands to serve God. There are saints and blesseds who came to the Americas to evangelize the New World or to work in the New World following the teachings of God and His church. There are Saints and Blesseds that were born in the Americas and served God and His family in the Church. Many are martyrs of the faith, others are founders of new religious institutes, all are members of the Communion of Saints, the Family of God in heaven.

I wish to give special acknowledgment to two very special Servants of God. First to the Servant of God, Isabel the Catholic. This great woman was the human instrument God used to evangelize the New World encountered by Christopher Columbus. Not only did she finance the voyages of Columbus, but she sent missionaries and made laws for the evangelization of the Americas. She was the principal source for the evangelization missions to the Americas and the reason that most of the Americas are part of the Catholic faith.

The other Servant of God is Pope John Paul the Great. Most of the Saints and Blesseds in this book were raised to the Altars of the Church during the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II. His love for the Communion of the Saints made this book possible and soon he will also be included in the Communion of the Saints.

The desire is that this book may serve in a greater realization of the Call to Holiness all of us have received by God. We all have received the vocation to be members of the Family of God, which is the Communion of Saints. We should have a very special relationship with our brothers and sisters who are in Heaven, and strive to imitate their virtues and ask for their help to imitate Jesus Christ in our lives.

If this book increases a love for the service of God and a love for the family of God it will be successful. The real level of success will only be if the book helps somebody to seek sanctity as the Saints and the Blesseds have obtained it, through a sincere and complete giving of oneself to Jesus Christ.

Fr. Daniel P. Ewald

Saints and Blesseds who visited the New World

Saints Who Visited the New World

Before the Suez Canal was completed in 1869, missionaries from Europe traveled to the Far East by way of Mexico or around Africa. Thus many of those who died as Martyrs and have been canonized or beatified visited the New World. This chapter contains the saints who traveled via Mexico but did not spend much time in the New World.

1-Martyrs%20of%20China.jpg

Martyrs of China:

Saint Francis de Fernandez de Capillas (1608-1649)

Canonized October 1, 2000

Feast January 15

Born in1608 in Palencia, Spain; he went to the Philippines via Mexico in 1631, and from there to China in 1642.

The young priest labored for ten years in the province of Cagayan. Then he was sent to Fukien, in China, where he worked for some years. When the Tartars invaded the region, Francis was captured and imprisoned.

Francis was subjected to a mock trial. Civil, military, and religious officials questioned him, and they accused him of everything from political intrigue to witchcraft. He was charged with disregarding ancestor worship, and, finally, since they could find no cause in him, he was turned over to the torturers.

He endured the cruel treatment of these men with great courage. Seeing his calmness, the magistrates became curious about his doctrines. They offered him wealth, power, and freedom, if he would renounce his faith, but he amazed and annoyed them by choosing to suffer instead. They varied the tortures with imprisonment, and he profitably used the time to convert his jailor and fellow prisoners. Even the mandarin visited him in prison, asking Francis if he would renounce his faith or would he prefer to suffer more. Being told that he was glad to suffer for Christ, the mandarin furiously ordered that he be scourged again so he would have even more to be glad about.

Francis was beheaded on January 15, 1649: After long suffering, he was finally beheaded and so entered into the presence of the Master, who likewise suffered and died under a civil sentence.

Francis de Fernandez de Capillas is honored as the Protomartyr of China inasmuch as he was the first of China’s martyrs to be beatified, in 1909. Pope John Paul II canonized Francis de Fernandez de Capillas on October 1, 2000 with 120 Martyrs of China.

(cf. St. Dominic’s Family,p.400)

Saint Francis Serrano Frias (1695-1749)

Canonized October 1, 2000

Feast October 20

Born in 1695 in Spain. After entering into the Dominican Order, he went to the Philippines via Mexico and from there to Fukien Province, China. He was a resourceful, cheerful person, who easily adapted himself to the gypsy life the missionaries had to lead. He became adept at scaling walls and hiding in chimneys, and once had himself carried in a sack on a man’s shoulders, as he wrote, like meat being taken to the butcher.

After 20 years of work in China he was caught and imprisoned with two other Dominicans, Fr. John Alcober and Fr. Francis Diaz. These three were tortured to reveal the whereabouts of Bishop Peter Martyr Sanz and Fr. Joachim Royo. They would not reveal anything, even under the most terrible tortures, but the bishop and Fr. Royo, hearing of the affair, surrendered in the hope of sparing their bother’s suffering. The Bishop and four priests were dragged in chains to the emperor’s court, where they were subjected to frightful torments. All of them were sentenced to death in December 1746.

On May 25, 1747 Bishop Sanz was beheaded. The remaining four priests were branded on the face as criminals about to die, and then they were left to languish in prison for another six months. In prison, Father Francis Serrano Frias received the letters appointing him successor to Bishop Sanz—a position he could never occupy. On October 20, 1749 the four priests were all strangled one night in their prison cells; the authorities believed that this was the best way of solving the problem of their apostolic work among the jailors and soldiers. When the executioners returned the next day to dispose of the bodies, they were terrified to see that the faces were not only serene, but shone with an unearthly radiance—a phenomenon indeed for someone who had died by strangulation. Afraid of being punished for not carrying out their duty, they covered up the shining faces, but the Christians followed them anyway, making certain to save the relics when chance offered itself.

Francis Serrano Frias was beatified by Pope Pius X in 1909. Pope John Paul II canonized Francis Serrano Frias on October 1, 2000 with 120 Martyrs of China.

(St. Dominic’s Family, p. 484-485)

Martyr of Vietnam:

Saint Dominic Henares (1765-1838)

Canonized June 19, 1988

Feast June 25

Born December 19, 1765, at Baen, Spain. He went to the Philippines via Mexico, and from there to Tonkin, North Vietnam. In 1803 he was consecrated titular Bishop of Fez as coadjutor to Bishop Ignatius Delgado, Vicar Apostolic of Tonkin.

In 1838 the two Bishops and a catechist were captured, in a persecution recently stirred up by the mandarin. Bishop Henares was captured with the catechist. He had hidden himself in a boat, and the nervousness of the boatman gave him away. Five hundred soldiers were dispatched to bring in the two dangerous criminals, the Bishop and his catechist, Francis Chien. Two weeks after the Martyrdom of Bishop Delgado, Bishop Henares and his Catechist were led out and beheaded at Nam Dinh on June 25, 1838.

He was Beatified on May 27, 1900 by Pope Leo XIII and Pope John Paul II canonized Dominic Henares with 117 Vietnamese Martyrs on June 19, 1988.

(St. Dominic’s Family, p. 498-499)

18 Blesseds who visited the New World

Before the Suez Canal was completed in 1869, missionaries from Europe traveled to the Far East by way of Mexico or around Africa. Therefore eighteen blesseds, Martyrs of Japan, beatified by Pope Pius IX on July 6, 1867 passed through the New World in route to the Far East. Their biographies are grouped together in this general chapter since their work in the Americas is not extensive but they are honored in the land they passed through on the way to giving their lives in the mission fields. There feast day corresponds to the day of their martyrdom.

Blessed Ferdinand of St. Joseph Ayala Fernandez (1575-1617)

Born on 1575 in Ballesteros, Spain. He went to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1603 and from there to Japan in 1605. A member of the Augustinian Order he was beheaded at Omura on June 1, 1617.

Blessed Vincent of St. Anthony Caravalho (d.1632)

Born in Alfama, Portugal; he entered into the Augustian Order and went to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1621, and from there to Japan in 1623. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 3, 1632.

Blessed Francis of Jesus de Ortega (d.1632)

Born in Villa Medina, Spain; he entered into the Augustian Order and went to Mexico with Blessed Vincent in route to the Philippines in 1621, and from there to Japan in 1623. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 3, 1632.

Blessed Francis de Morales (1567-1622)

Born on October 14, 1567 in Madrid, Spain. He entered the Dominican Order and went to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1598, and from there to Japan. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Blessed Alphonse de Mena (d.1622)

Born in Logrono, Spain; he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines and then to Japan in 1611. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Blessed Alphonse Navarette (1571-1617)

Born in Old Castile in 1571; he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines and then to Japan in 1611. He was beheaded in Omura on June 1, 1617.

Blessed Joseph of St. Hyacinth (d.1622)

Born in Villareal de Salvanes, Spain; he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines and from there to Japan. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Blessed Hyacinth Orfanel (d.1622)

Born in Llana near Valencia, Spain; he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines and from there to Japan. He was burned alive in Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

Blessed Thomas of the Holy Spirit de Zumarraga (1575-1622)

Born in 1575 in Victoria, Spain; he entered the Dominican Order and was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1601. From there he went to Japan and was burned alive in Omura on September 12, 1622.

Blessed Peter Vasquez (d.1624)

Born in Verin, Galicia, Spain; he entered the Dominican Order. He went to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1613 and from there to Japan in 1621. He was burned alive in Omura on August 25, 1624.

Blessed John of St. Martha (1578-1618)

Born in Pradas, Taragona, Spain where he entered the Franciscan Order. Ordained a priest he was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1605 and from there to Japan in 1608. Expelled from Japan in 1614, he returned a few hours later in a small boat. He was beheaded in Kyoto on August 16, 1618.

Blessed Apollinaris Franco (1575-1622)

Born around 1575 at Aguilar de Campo, Spain; he entered the Franciscan Order and led fifty companions to Mexico in 1600. From there he took forty Franciscans and forty Dominicans to the Philippines in 1601. He arrived in Japan in 1606 and was burned alive at Omura on September 13, 1622.

Blessed Francis Galvez (1567-1622)

Born in Utiel, Spain in 1567, he entered the Franciscan Order and was ordained to the priesthood. Sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1601 and from there to Japan in 1606. Expelled in 1614, he returned in 1616-1618 via Malacca and Macao. He was burned alive in Shinagawa, south of Tokyo on December 4, 1623.

Blessed Francis of St. Mary (d.1627)

Born in Mancha, Spain; he was ordained in the Franciscan Order and sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1605 and from there to Japan in 1623. Burned alive in Nagasaki on August 17, 1627.

Blessed Gabriel of St. Magdalen Tarazona y Rodriguez (d. 1632)

Born in Fonseca, Spain; he studied medicine and became a Franciscan Brother and doctor. He was sent to Mexico in route to the Philippines in 1611 and from there to Japan in 1612. He was martyred in Nagasaki on September 3, 1632.

Three Jesuits, the blesseds James Cavalho, Charles Spinola and Jerome of the Angels were in route to the Far East sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, Africa. The first attempt failed as a storm sent them to Puerto Rico and from there to the coast of Brazil for repairs in 1599.

Blessed James (Diogo, Diego) Carvalho (1578-1624)

Born in Coimbra, Portugal he entered the Jesuits. On the second attempt he reached the Far East in 1602. He went to Japan in 1609 and was expelled in 1614 only to return in 1615. He was arrested and immersed in icy water until he died on February 22, 1624.

Blessed Jerome of the Angels (d. 1623)

Born in Castrogiovanni, Sicily and entered the Society of Jesus. He visited the interior of Puerto Rico with Blessed Charles Spinola traveling from San Juan to Ponce on the rivers and crossing the mountains and streams around Coamo and Villaba. He arrived in Japan in 1602. Arrested in August of 1623 he was taken to a pond of lava into which he was immersed, removed and set upon straw to recover until immersed again in the lava. After several days of this torture he died near Tokyo on December 4, 1623.

Blessed Charles Spinola (d.1622)

The father of Charles was the Italian Count of Spinola and was in the Austrian Service, when Charles was born in Prague. On the first attempt around the Cape of Good Hope the ship encountered a storm that sent them to Puerto Rico. While undergoing emergency repairs in San Juan, Charles and Jerome of the Angels traveled through the interior of the island. Blessed Charles wrote letters about their crossing streams and mountains. Passing Coamo they went to Ponce and then returned to San Juan. The ship then went to Brazil for further repairs and then returned to Europe. On the second attempt the missionaries arrived in the far East. Charles Spinola went to Japan where he was arrested in 1618. He was burned to death in Nagasaki on September 10, 1622.

The Faith arrived in Japan in 1549, when St. Francis Xavier landed at Satsuma. He converted more than three thousand Japanese and after thirty years there were 200,000 Christians and 250 churches in Japan. Enemies of the church gained influence and persecutions from the years 1614 to 1664 brought thousands of Christians to the crown of martyrdom. The first group of martyrs were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862 and on July 6, 1867 the same pontiff beatified 205 Martyrs of Japan.

After the first martyrs, which include St. Philip of Jesus, there was about a decade of relative calm. Then the persecutions began in earnest. In 1622 the Great Martyrdom took place in Nagaski and other cities, claiming the lives of Japanese and Europeans. Between 1624 and 1627, hundreds more were slain, imprisoned or exiled. Most were burned alive, crucified or beheaded, some with small children in their arms.

Saints and Blesseds -of Canada

Five North American Martyrs of Canada

2-North%20American%20Martrys.JPG

Canonized June 29, 1930

Feast October 19

Martyrs of Huronia (1648-1649): SS. John de Brebeuf, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Gabriel Lalemant and Noel Chabanel.

The Jesuits came to help the Franciscan missionaries working among the Huron Indians in 1625. Fr. John de Brebeuf came with the first five Jesuits to New France. He worked among the Hurons until 1629, when the English seized the colony and expelled the Franciscans and the Jesuits from New France. Three years later, when New France was given back to France the missionaries returned.

One of the five Jesuits who arrived in 1632 was Fr. Anthony Daniel. The following year Fr. John Brebeuf returned with another new missionary. In 1634, their number was augmented by six, and the next year by seven more. Among the eight who arrived in 1636 were Fr. Isaac Jogues and Fr. Charles Garnier. These were joined in 1643 by Fr. Noel Chabanal and in 1646 by Fr. Gabriel Lalemant. The five named here along with Fr. Jogues and his two assistants are the eight North American Martyrs. In this chapter we deal with the five who died in Huronia between July 4, 1648 and December 8, 1649.

Saint John de Brebeuf (1593-1649) came from a Norman family which counted Crusaders among its forbearers. He was born on March 25, 1593, in Conde-sur-Vine, near Lisieux. After studying the classics, philosophy and moral theology, and devoting two years to each subject, he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Rouen in 1617. He was then 24 years old and in poor health, suffering from tuberculosis.

Unable to follow the regular courses of study or even to teach for any length of time, he was sent, after his novitiate of two years, to the recently opened house at Pontoise, where he completed his theological studies privately and leisurely. Four years later, April 4,1623, the date that the feast of the Annunciation was celebrated that year, the invalid consumptive was ordained a priest at the age of thirty. A remarkable recovery followed, and Fr. John grew big and strong within a short time.

In 1625 he went to New France for the first time; and after wintering with the Algonquins, he spent two years in the Huron mission of Ihonatiria, learning the language of the Indians and becoming acquainted with their customs, but not succeeding in winning a single convert. Expelled in 1629, he returned to New France in 1633, and the following year went back to Huronia with Father Anthony Daniel and Father Ambrose Davost, to become the giant apostle of the Hurons. His second sojourn among these Indians lasted fourteen years, not including a year of rest in Quebec.

Saint Anthony Daniel (1601-1648), a Norman like Fr. John Brebeuf, was born in Dieppe on May 27, 1601. He had completed his course in rhetoric and philosophy and had begun to study law, when he decided at the age of 20 to become a Jesuit and entered the society at the Rouen novitiate in 1621. His two-year novitiate was followed by a four year term of teaching in the local college. He then went to Clermont College in Paris for theology, and in 1621 he was ordained a priest. For a short time he taught the classics once more at the college of Eu and with Fr. Brebeuf, assisted the rector. In 1632 he departed for New France.

Saint Charles Garnier (1605-1649) was a Parisian, the son of wealthy parents. He was born on May 25, 1605. During his youth, as he himself said, the Blessed Virgin carried me in her arms. As a student in the college of Clermont, he used the allowance he received from his parents to give relief to prisoners. At the age of 19 he entered the Society of Jesus; and after his novitiate, he received his training at Eu. Ordained a priest in 1635, he offered to go to New France; but his departure was delayed for a year because his aged father, a benefactor of the Jesuits, was reluctant to see him go. The following year he went with Fr. Isaac Jogues to New France.

Saint Gabriel Lalemant (1610-1649), born October 10, 1610, was a Parisian and the nephew of two other prominent missionaries of New France, Fr. Charles Lalemont and Fr. Jerome Lalemont. Father Charles, the novice-master of Fathers Brebeuf, Daniel and Jogues, was in New France during the first period, 1625-1629. Father Jerome, his brother, succeeded Fr. Brebeuf as the superior of the Huron mission in 1638. At the end of his two-year novitiate, in 1632, Gabriel added a fourth vow to those of the religious life, promising to devote his life, with his superior’s permission, to the work of a missionary. However, his health was weak; and for the next fourteen years, after completing his studies, he was a teacher. For one year he was chaplain of the college of LaFleche. Then for another year he taught philosophy at Moulins. From 1644 to 1646 he was director of studies at Bourges, and then left for New France and Huronia. A newcomer among the missionaries, he died a martyr less than three years later.

Saint Noel Chabanel (1613-1649), the youngest of the martyrs, was born near Mende in Southern France on February 2, 1613, and joined the Jesuits in 1630. During an interval of five years between his courses of philosophy and theology, he was engaged in teaching. He arrived in New France on August 15, 1643, after a voyage that lasted three months, and went on to Huronia.

When Father Brebeuf returned to New France in 1633, he wanted to go back to Huronia the same year; but the Hurons who had come to Quebec to trade refused to take him along, because they were frightened by an Ottawa chief who raised objections. The next year, however, the Hurons were accompanied on their trip from Quebec by Frs. Brebeuf, Anthony Daniel and Ambrose Davost. On the journey, this usually lasted a month, the missionaries had to suffer much and were robbed and abandoned. But they finally reached their destination and the mission was reestablished at Ihonatria, which now occupied a new site, the present Todd’s Point. The Indians built a cabin for the three priests at this place, and Fr. Brebeuf taught his companions the Huron language. During the first three years, however, they were not able to baptize a single adult.

In 1636 Fathers Daniel and Davost took three Huron children to Quebec to start an Indian School, which never enjoyed success and had to be closed in 1639. Father Daniel returned to Huronia. Other Jesuits joined Fr. Brebeuf in the meantime, and during these years there was an average of five missionaries. Fr. Brebeuf had been appointed superior of the mission in 1634. It was in 1636 also that the missionaries moved from Ihonatiria to Ossossane, and built a chapel of boards, eighty feet length. They named it Conception Mission. The first adult convert was baptized the following year, and in 1638 there were eighty adult baptisms. In the latter year another mission was founded at Teanaustaye and named after St. Joseph.

Father Jerome Lalemont arrived in August of the same year as the newly appointed superior. He introduced an order of the day for the missionaries, now ten in number; and a central mission, Ste. Marie, was established at some distance from the Indian villages. It had a fort, hospital and cemetery. Fr. Lalemont was succeeded by Father Paul Ragueneau in 1646.

Thirty miles to the Southwest Father Charles Garnier founded the Mission of the Apostles among the Tobacco Indians in 1641. By 1642 the number of missionaries had increased to 24, and the Indians were accepting the faith in increasing numbers. There were now five main missions and thirty stations. In 1640 the missionaries of Huronia began to make excursions to other tribes during the winter months. Thus Fr. Brebeuf and a companion traveled to the Neutral Nation who lived in New York, north of Lake Erie. They received no welcome; and on the homeward journey, which lasted 25 days, Fr. Brebeuf fell and broke a shoulder blade. The following year he went to Quebec for medical aid; and after a year of rest he returned to Huronia.

The work among the Hurons continued to enjoy a plentiful spiritual harvest; and if a period of peace had continued, the whole tribe might well have been converted. However, the irreconcilable Iroquois were determined to destroy their enemies, the Hurons. Their first attack was made as early as 1642, when they annihilated the village of Kontarea on the outskirts of Huronia. But it was only after the martyrdom of Fr. Isaac Jogues in the Mohawk village at Auriesville that the Iroquois carried out their design with relentless fury.

On July 4, 1648, the Iroquois suddenly attacked St. Joseph Mission in the village of Teanaustaye. Father Anthony Daniel was just finishing the celebration of Mass. Panic ensued in his Indian congregation, but he managed to find his way into their midst and baptized as many catechumen as possible. There were so many that he had to dip his handkerchief in water and administer the sacrament by aspersion. The Iroquois were fast becoming the masters, but Fr. Daniel gave no thought to escaping. Remembering some old and sick Indians whom he had prepared for baptism, he went from cabin to cabin, conferring the sacrament on them and encouraging them to remain steadfast.

Going back to the church and finding it filled with Christians, he warned them to take flight while there was still time. Then he went out to meet the Iroquois. He was immediately surrounded by them, and they showered their arrows upon him. The missionary fell to the ground, pierced in the breast. The invaders stripped his body and threw it into the church, to which they set fire. Satisfied with the havoc they had wrought, they departed. The following year, on March 16, 1649, the Iroquois returned and attacked the Huron Village where Fr. John de Brebeuf and his young assistant Fr. Gabriel Lalemant were stationed. The two missionaries were not killed outright but reserved for torture as extreme as any recorded in history.

They were stripped and beaten with sticks all over their bodies, but Fr. Brebeuf continued to exhort and encourage the Christian captives around him. One of the two priests had his hands cut off. Then the savages applied hatches, heated in fire, to their victims, placed red-hot lance blades around their necks, and ignited belts of bark steeped in pitch and tar.

Father Lalemont raised his eyes heavenward, and with sighs begged God for strength and courage; but Father Brebeuf gave no outward sign of the intense pain he was suffering, and he even began to preach to his persecutors as well as the Christian captives. The Iroquois silenced him by gagging his mouth, cutting off his nose and tearing off his lips.

In derision of baptism, they then poured boiling water upon the two priests. Lastly, while the two martyrs were still alive, they slashed large pieces of flesh from their bodies, roasted them, and devoured them. They put an end to these excruciating sufferings of the two fathers by tearing out their hearts through an opening which they cut above their breasts. These too they ate.

During the first week of December, 1649, the Iroquois made their final raid, this time on the Petun or Tobacco Indians’ village of St. John, where Father Charles Garnier had founded a mission in 1641. Learning that the Iroquois were approaching, the village sent out its warriors to meet them. But the wily Iroquois, having extracted this information from some fugitives and knowing that there was no one left to defend the village itself, avoided the force sent against them and in a roundabout way reached the village and suddenly appeared at its gates.

A frenzied orgy of cruelty followed as the invaders mowed down women, children and the aged. Father Charles Garnier, the only priest at the village when the attack was made, hurried from place to place, giving absolution to the Christians and baptizing children and catechumens. He continued to do so until he was shot down by two bullets from a musket fired by one of the Iroquois.

Still breathing, the missionary made three fruitless attempts to crawl to the aid of a wounded man near him. He collapsed and a tomahawk blow, cleaving his skull, put an end to his life. After the departure of the invaders, some surviving neophytes buried the body of their missionary on the site where the church had stood.

When the Iroquois destroyed the Petun village of St. John, Father Noel Chabanel, Fr. Garnier’s assistant, was absent; but he was on the way back to the town with some companions. They were so close to it that they