Saint of the Day: North American Martyrs

Missionaries to the New World

Courtesy Camille Legaspi | Collage by Aleteia

Jesuit Martyrs (d. 1642-1649)

Their story

+ The eight members of the Society of Jesus honored today were tortured and killed by Mohawk and Iroquois tribesmen near what is now Auriesville, New York.

+ Honored as the “North American Martyrs,” the group includes Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, Charles Garnier, Anthony Daniel, Gabriel Lallemant, Noël Chabanel, John de Lalande, and René Goupil. These missionaries preached the Gospel in a mission field that extended from present-day Nova Scotia to Maryland.

+ Motivated by a desire that God be known and loved, the missionaries committed themselves to serve the Native Americans amid extreme hardships, willingly accepting the likelihood of torture and death.

+ Saint Isaac Jogues and his companions were canonized in 1930 and their memorial was extended to the Universal Church in 1969.

For prayer and reflection

“We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.”—2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Spiritual bonus

On this day the Sulpicians have traditionally celebrated a feast in honor of the “Inner Life of Mary,” recalling Mary’s contemplative spirit as she held within her heart what was said about and by her Child (cf. Luke 2:51).

Prayer

O God, who chose to manifest
the blessed hope of your eternal kingdom
by the toil of Saints John de Brébeuf,
Isaac Jogues and their companions
and by the shedding of their blood,
graciously grant that through their intercession
the faith of Christians may be strengthened day by day.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.