8 Saints who were depressed, but never gave up

Aleteia - published on 05/02/18

5. St. Noel Chabanel

17th century

A Jesuit priest and North American martyr, Noel worked among the Hurons with Saint Charles Garnier. In general, the missionaries developed great empathy for those whom they were evangelizing; however, that was not the case for Fr. Noel: he felt revulsion towards the Native Americans and their customs, in addition to the great difficulty he experienced in trying to learn their language, which was completely different from any European language—not to mention the brutal challenges involved in their life in that nearly savage environment. All of these trials put together caused in him a lasting sentiment of spiritual suffocation. How did he respond? By making a solemn vow never to desist nor abandon his mission. He kept that vow until his martyrdom.

Tags:

Mental Health Saints

Support Aleteia!

If you’re reading this article, it’s thanks to the generosity of people like you, who have made Aleteia possible.

Here are some numbers:

20 million users around the world read Aleteia.org every month
Aleteia is published every day in seven languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Slovenian
Each month, readers view more than 50 million pages
Nearly 4 million people follow Aleteia on social media
Each month, we publish 2,450 articles and around 40 videos
We have 60 full time staff and approximately 400 collaborators (writers, translators, photographers, etc.)

As you can imagine, these numbers represent a lot of work. We need you.

Support Aleteia with as little as $1. It only takes a minute. Thank you!

Donate now!