Saint of the Week – St Jean de Brébeuf
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Name: Jean de Brébeuf SJ, martyr and apostle to the Hurons
Born: 25 March 1593; Condé-sure-Vire, Normandy (France).
Died: 16 March 1649; St Ignace, Ontario (Canada).
Feast Day: 19th October
Patron Saint of: Canada
In the first half of the sixteenth century St Francis Xavier became a model of the Church’s missionary zeal. He helped inspire generations of Jesuit missionaries who bravely ventured into foreign lands to fulfill the mandate of Christ to “go, make disciples of all nations.” Among the most fearsome of these missions in the following century was to the North American tribes around the Great Lakes districts of Canada and the United States. The 19th October is the feast of the North American martyrs, Jean de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and six other Jesuit missionaries who faced almost unimaginable hardships and barbaric treatment for the sole purpose of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to these souls. The heroism of their zeal in seeking to bring souls the grace of redemption bears witness to the strength of their faith, hope and charity.
We will limit our attention here to St Jean de Brébeuf who was among the pioneers of the Jesuit mission to Huronia, North America. After completing his university studies, Jean joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) intending to become a brother. His superiors convinced him to pursue ordination to the priesthood, and during the course of his studies discovered his natural aptitude for languages. After his ordination in 1622 he felt called to the North American mission. Jean was a man of giant stature, strong and courageous, which together with his gift for languages made him well suited to the mission. In 1625 Jean arrived in Quebec and almost immediately joined the Montagnais tribe in a six-month-long hunting expedition. This gave him the chance to learn and adapt to native culture and diet. In the summer of 1626 Jean together with two other missionaries accompanied a group of Huron natives back to their territory, Huronia. Jean and his companions completely immersed themselves into the Huron culture winning their trust and admiration. Jean spent the first two years striving to master the Wyandot language of the Hurons. He was able to put together a phrase book and even translated a French catechism into the local language. In due course he was greatly admired by the Huron for his command of the native oratory style. Beyond the language Jean took a genuine interest in Huron culture and carefully compiled an extensive ethnographic record of the Huron people. In spite of these efforts the missionaries had little success in terms of making converts to Christianity. It is at this point worth making the observation, that contrary to many of the modern-day revisionist histories that attempt to paint Catholic missionaries as brutal colonialists who came in and forced the native populations to adopt Christianity, whilst trampling upon their culture, this was manifestly not the case. The Jesuit missionaries in North America, China, Japan and many other places made a serious attempt to enculturate themselves into the lifestyle, diet, language, etiquette and customs of the local population with the aim of assimilating the Christian faith into their culture. Nor was there any coercion used by the Jesuit missionaries beyond artful persuasion and the vibrant witness of their own faith. The fact that the Hurons were initially reluctant to accept Christianity attests to this.
Meanwhile, simmering tensions between the English and French had resulted in an English blockade that cut off supplies. In 1629 the political circumstances required Jean to return to Quebec, and thereupon forced his return to Europe. Up to this point Jean had little to show for his efforts yet he had done the groundwork particularly in mastering the Wyandot language, which would greatly benefit the next generation of missionaries. The French and English signed a treaty enabling the French to return to Canada and by 1633 Jean had returned to Quebec. The following year in spite of the difficulties posed by travel across this wild terrain, Jean and a handful of missionaries returned to Huronia. Jean was welcomed back joyfully by the Hurons. Finally, the missionaries began to make some progress; by 1635 they had made merely a dozen or so converts, but by the following year that number had swelled to 86. Tensions arose with the outbreak of small pox which claimed over a thousand Huron lives. The Huron became suspicious of the missionaries who were largely immune to the disease, and accusations emerged that the disease was a plot to convert them on their deathbeds.
Unfortunately there were other more serious tensions bubbling away between the Hurons and the Iroquois, who were long-standing rival tribes. The Iroquois had already savagely tortured and butchered a number of Jesuit missionaries including Fr Isaac Jogues and Fr Anthony Daniel, so all were aware of the gravity of the threat. An Iroquois ambush one night led to their capture along with a large number of Huron Catholic converts. The Jesuit, Fr Tom Rochford, describes their grisly martyrdom:
“After some preliminary torture, the Jesuits and the Huron captives were forced to run naked through the snow to a nearby village where others waited. The captives had to run the gauntlet and then the two Jesuits were led to two posts where they were to be killed. First the captors heated a string of hatchet blades and then placed the red-hot iron on Brébeuf's shoulders. He did not yell for mercy, so his tormentors covered him with resinous bark which they set aflame. He continued encouraging his fellow Christians to remain strong. Then the Jesuit's captors cut off his nose and forced a hot iron down his throat to silence him; they poured boiling water over his head in a mockery of baptism and then successively scalped him, cut off his feet and then tore out his heart. He was 46-years.”
When one considers the immense price that these missionaries paid both in life and in death, with no personal gain beyond the glory of martyrdom and the eternal reward of winning souls for Christ, it is hard to imagine a more selfless motive or ardent charity for souls. Jean’s own writings reveal his willingness to suffer and die for Christ’s sake: “Yes, dear Lord, if all the tortures that captives undergo in this land, if all the stark intensity of their sufferings should be my lot, I offer myself for it with all my heart.” The greatest missionary of the first century, St Paul writes of his own evangelising ministry in 2Corinthians, ‘caritas Christi urget nos!’ - “The love of Christ compels us!” (2Cor 5:14). The love of Christ and the love of souls compelled Jean de Brébeuf and his fellow Jesuit missionaries to undertake this perilous mission to make disciples of all nations. May the Church never fail in her mission to lead souls to Jesus Christ, with the same spirit of generosity and self-sacrifice exhibited by Jean de Brébeuf and his fellow martyrs.
St Jean de Brébeuf and companions, pray for us!
