Why would eight of the most talented and dynamic men of 17th century France volunteer to be missionaries in the wilderness of North America? Six Jesuit priests-Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Noel Chabanel, Charles Garnier, and Anthony Daniel-and two laymen –Rene Goupil and John de Lalande-did just that.
By 1632 the Jesuits had established a mission center in Quebec to minister to the Huron people. The Huron nation was made up of 20,000 people who lived in 30 villages. The missionaries had to travel extensively in this new land, through dense forests as well as by rivers. They learned the Huron language and lived among the people.
But the missionaries’ culture and religion were very different. Their differences made the Huron distrust them. When the Huron first saw the blacks’ robes of the Jesuits priests, children went running to their mothers, afraid that the missionaries were sorcerers. And the missionaries were not accustomed to the Huron way of life, which revolved around their hunting season and the attacks of their enemies, the fierce Iroquois. The Frenchmen suffered from cold and heat and sleeping in smoke-filled rooms. Yet they carried on. John de Brebeuf founded schools among the Huron and wrote a catechism and dictionary in their native language. Noel Chabanel, a brilliant professor of languages in France, had a great deal of trouble with the Huron language, but he made a vow to stay and try, in humility, to do the work of God. Rene Goupil and John de Lalande gave their time without any pay. Charles Garnier would walk 30or 40 miles to baptize a single child.
All these efforts seemed to be useless. The Huron people were polite, but generally ignored the Christian missionaries. After years of kindness, unselfishness, and perseverance, the missionaries had about 2,000 converts. Then the Iroquois, who resented the French and blamed them for a small pox epidemic, attacked the missionaries. Rene Goupil was struck down while baptizing a baby. Anthony Daniel was at Mass when he was shot with arrows. He told his Huron friends to flee, saying, “I will stay here. We will meet in heaven.” The Iroquois admired the bravery of John de brebeuf so much that after his death they drank his blood and saved his heart for the chief to eat. They believed that by doing this they could gain some of his courage. Isaac Jogues, who had been captured and tortured by the Iroquis, was able to escape back to France. Later he bravely returned to America. This time when on a peace mission to the Iroquois for the governor of New France, he was accused of bringing a bad harvest, and they took his life. |
