10/19/2016 - Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs of North America - Isaiah 12:2-3, 4BCD, 5-6

      Instead of a psalm, we hear verses from the prophet Isaiah today, as he declares: God indeed is my savior; I am confident and unafraid. My strength and my courage is the LORD, and he has been my savior.  We may assume that the psalmist is having great success and joy in his life, but perhaps he is going through many sufferings, challenges and obstacles in his life, finding confidence and strength in his faith in the midst of all he is going through. 

      Today, we celebrate two great missionaries and their companions:  St Jean de Brébeuf, St Isaac Rogues, and their companions, all missionaries from Europe who died as martyrs in North America in the 17th century. The first permanent French settlement was established in Quebec in present day Canada in 1608.  Not many years later, the Jesuits established a permanent mission in Quebec. Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, and other Jesuits were among the priests who traveled throughout Quebec to establish missions among the native people there.  The missions amongst the Huron tribe were the most successful.  Not only did these missionaries have to contend with learning a native language that was not written down, a harsh northern environment, and the natives’ natural distrust of the newly arrived Europeans, they also were confronted by a state of constant warfare amongst the tribes.  Many of these priests were captured and tortured at different times.  Isaac Jogues was captured in 1642 by members of the Mohawk tribe, who tortured him and enslaved him until he was able to escape.  In fact, in this era of Church history, a priest who was bodily deformed was not able to perform his priestly duties.  Because Jogues had many of his fingers removed or mutilated during his torture, he had to receive a special papal dispensation in order to continue to celebrate mass.  Brébeuf is most remembered for the written records he left behind of the Huron language, as well as the Huron Carol that he wrote in the native Huron language, the first recorded Christian hymn that was written and composed in North America.  8 Jesuit priests were killed in Canada between 1642 and 1649 - collectively they are known as the North American martyrs.  Author Brian Moore, whose novel Black Robe is based upon the life of Brébeuf, stated that the faith and conviction of these Jesuit priests is a dynamic, profound Christian faith that speaks to us across the centuries.  We can certainly learn a great deal from the tenacity and courage of these faithful missionaries.  Most of these missionaries knew that they would die for the faith in one form or another, but their belief in the missionary mandate we have as Christians quelled any fear or trepidations that they had.  May the spirit of these brave Jesuit missionary live on in us today.