ST ISAAC JOGUES, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 18 OCTOBER

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN OCTOBER

Saints celebrated on the 18th of October

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SAINT ISAAC JOGUES, MISSIONARY PRIEST AND MARTYR

Saint Isaac Jogues

Saint Isaac Jogues (born January 10, 1607, Orleans, France) and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognised by the Church. Saint Isaac entered the Jesuits at Rouen when he was 17 years old. Two months after celebrating his first Mass on February 10, 1636, he was on his way to the Jesuit mission in the New World. He wrote his mother of his great joy when he landed in Quebec and saw native Americans waiting on shore. After only a month and a half, he set out on his first expedition to the Hurons, travelling the 900 miles to Ihonatiria by water. Saint Isaac met Father Jean de Brebeuf at Ihonatiria, and began learning the Huron language. 

The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the Iroquois. In 1641 Saint Isaac began missions to the Ojibwa people at Sault Sainte Marie. The following year, warring Iroquois captured him, his fellow Jesuit missionary Rene Goupil, and a band of Wendat Christian converts near Montreal. They were brought to Ossernenon, where they were terribly beaten, and Rene Goupil was slain. 

Saint Isaac's letters and journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured, and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed. During his captivity, which lasted about 13 months, Saint Isaac's hands were mutilated and he lost several fingers, among other tortures.

Pope Urban VIII gave Saint Isaac permission to celebrate Mass with his mutilated hands: "It would be shameful that a martyr of Christ not be allowed to drink the Blood of Christ."

Ransomed from slavery among the Mohawks in Canada by the Dutch of nearby Fort Orange (Albany), Saint Isaac eventually managed to escape down the Hudson River, becoming the first priest to visit New Amsterdam (now New York City). The Dutch also provided funds for him to return to France, and on Christmas of 1643 he reached his home country, where he had been presumed dead. Saint Isaac, however, was eager to return to his missions, and in 1645-46 he was sent by the French government to Ossernenon to establish peace between the French and the Mohawk people. He was murdered by the Mohawk on October 18, 1646, at Ossernenon, near Fort Orange [now Auriesville, New York, U.S.]

He and seven other Jesuit martyrs, including Saint Rene Goupil, were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930. Saints Jean de Brebeuf, Isaac Jogues and Companions are also collectively known as the Canadian Martyrs or the North American Martyrs.

Sources: - https://www.jesuits.global/saint-blessed/saint-isaac-jogues/  -https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Isaac-Jogues - https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saints-isaac-jogues-jean-de-brebeuf-and-companions/

PRAYER:

May the intercession of Saint Isaac commend us to you, so that through their merits we may obtain that which we cannot accomplish by our own. 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.