Who Were the North American Martyrs? The Eight Saints of Auriesville and Huronia

The North American Martyrs are eight Jesuit missionaries, six priests and two laymen, who were killed for the faith between 1642 and 1649 at the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, now Auriesville, New York, and in the Huron country of present-day Ontario. Pope Pius XI canonized all eight together on June 29, 1930, and the Church in the United States keeps their memorial on October 19.

The Eight Saints, Where and When They Died

They died over years, and each man left behind kept working, knowing he could be next.

• St. René Goupil: September 29, 1642, at Ossernenon.
• St. Isaac Jogues: October 18, 1646, at Ossernenon.
• St. Jean de Lalande: October 19, 1646 (some records say the 18th), at Ossernenon.
• St. Antoine Daniel: July 4, 1648, at the Saint-Joseph mission in Huronia.
• St. Jean de Brébeuf: March 16, 1649, at St. Ignace in Huronia.
• St. Gabriel Lalemant: March 17, 1649, at St. Ignace.
• St. Charles Garnier: December 7, 1649, at Saint-Jean in Huronia.
• St. Noël Chabanel: December 8, 1649, on the road back to the main mission.

They were beatified on June 21, 1925. Canada, which honors them as the Canadian Martyrs, keeps their feast on September 26.

The Auriesville Three

René Goupil was a surgeon who had to leave the Jesuit novitiate in Paris because of deafness. He came to Canada in 1640 as a lay helper. In August 1642 Iroquois warriors ambushed his party, with Father Isaac Jogues, and carried both men to Ossernenon. On September 29, 1642, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (see our explainer on Michaelmas), a man who saw him make the sign of the cross over a child killed him with a hatchet. He is venerated as the first Jesuit martyr in Canada.

Isaac Jogues, born at Orléans in 1607, had sailed for New France in 1636. In the ambush he could have hidden, he wrote, "in thickets and among very tall and dense reeds; but this thought could never enter my mind." He would not abandon the new Christians in his care: "Flight seemed horrible to me."

He was held at Ossernenon for about thirteen months and lost several fingers to torture. The Dutch at Fort Orange, now Albany, helped him escape to New Amsterdam (the Catholic Encyclopedia calls him the first Catholic priest on Manhattan Island) and on to France. His maimed hands made it canonically impossible to say Mass, so the pope granted an exception, judging it not proper that a martyr for Christ should be unable to offer Christ's blood.

Jogues went back. When he was named an envoy of peace to the Mohawks in 1646, he wrote to his superior, "Yes, my Father, I desire all that our Lord desires, at the peril of a thousand lives." On that journey he named Lake George the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. He returned that autumn to stay as a missionary, but sickness and crop failure had been blamed on him. He was seized on the road and killed with a hatchet blow on October 18, 1646.

Jean de Lalande, a young layman bound to the Jesuits by a contract of service, kept his word and went on with Jogues when nearly all their Huron companions turned back. The Jesuit Relation records that he left saying "the desire of serving God was leading him into a country where he surely expected to meet death." He was killed the day after Jogues.

The Huronia Five

Jean de Brébeuf, born in Normandy in 1593, reached Quebec in 1625 and gave his life to the Hurons, compiling a dictionary and grammar of their language. He took a vow never to refuse the grace of martyrdom. On March 16, 1649, Iroquois warriors seized him and Gabriel Lalemant, newly sent to assist him, at the mission of St. Louis. Both men could have escaped; both stayed with their flock. They were taken to St. Ignace and tortured at the stake. Of Brébeuf the Catholic Encyclopedia says, "Through all the torture he never uttered a groan." He died that afternoon; Lalemant's suffering lasted until the next morning.

Antoine Daniel was finishing Mass at the Saint-Joseph mission on July 4, 1648, when the village was overrun. He told his people, "Flee, and keep the faith to your dying breath," then walked out toward the attackers, and he fell uttering the name of Jesus.

Charles Garnier was killed on December 7, 1649, when the Iroquois attacked the village of Saint-Jean. The next day Noël Chabanel was killed by a Huron apostate who later confessed that he did it out of hatred for the faith. Chabanel, a brilliant teacher in France, never mastered the language and loathed mission life, yet he bound himself by vow to stay. Father Paul Ragueneau wrote of him: "Never, for all that, would he break away from the Cross on which God had placed him."

Why They Were Killed, and Why That Matters

They died during a war between the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and the Wendat (Huron). The missionaries were seen as allies of the Wendat and the French and blamed for epidemics. That makes their deaths no less a witness to Christ, and it makes no people villains. The same village where Jogues, Goupil and Lalande died is where St. Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk and Algonquin woman, was later born. The ground that took their blood gave the Church a saint.

The Catholic Meaning of Martyrdom

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death" (CCC 2473). The martyr, it adds, "endures death through an act of fortitude."

What stands out is that they went knowingly. Jogues chose capture over hiding, then went back. Brébeuf vowed in advance. Lalande went expecting death. That is fortitude: not the absence of fear, but the will held steady by charity. For the soldier's side of that virtue, see the Church Militant.

The Shrine at Auriesville Today

In 1884 Father Joseph Loyzance, S.J., bought ten acres on the hill at Auriesville and raised a shrine under the title Our Lady of Martyrs. After the canonization a great circular church, the Coliseum, rose there. Today the Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine own and run it, and the U.S. bishops' conference has confirmed it as a national shrine. Canada honors the five who died in Huronia at the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland, Ontario.

Why Men Wear the North American Martyrs

These men counted the cost before they paid it: a deaf surgeon, a scholar who never mastered the language, a layman who kept his word, a priest who went back to the village of his torture. Wearing them is a reminder that the Faith in this country was planted by men who would not run.

Wear the Standard

Our North American Martyrs: Auriesville 1646 tee carries a rough wooden cross and martyrs' palms beneath the banner "The North American Martyrs." It is American-made: a Bayside 5100 shirt, 100% cotton, 6.1 oz heavyweight, printed to order in the USA. Sizes S-3XL run $44.99 (S-XL), $48.99 (2XL) and $49.99 (3XL); every shirt is printed to order, so allow about two weeks from order to door. See the rest of the line in our Catholic T-Shirts, Made in America collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who were the North American Martyrs?

Eight Jesuit missionaries, six priests and two laymen, killed for the faith between 1642 and 1649 in New York and Ontario. Pope Pius XI canonized them together on June 29, 1930.

When is the feast of the North American Martyrs?

In the United States it is October 19, the Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs. In Canada the feast is September 26.

Which North American Martyrs died in New York?

Three: René Goupil in 1642, and Isaac Jogues and Jean de Lalande in 1646, all at Ossernenon, where the Auriesville shrine stands.

Why could Isaac Jogues say Mass without some of his fingers?

Torture left his hands mutilated, which made celebrating Mass canonically impossible, so the pope granted him a special exception.

What is the connection between the martyrs and St. Kateri Tekakwitha?

She was born at Ossernenon, the village where Goupil, Jogues and Lalande were killed, and the Auriesville shrine honors all four.

Sources

• Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Isaac Jogues (New Advent)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Jean de Brébeuf (New Advent)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Gabriel Lalemant (New Advent)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Auriesville (New Advent)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Distinguished Jesuits (New Advent)
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Isaac Jogues
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: René Goupil
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Jean de La Lande
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Jean de Brébeuf
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Antoine Daniel
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Charles Garnier
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography: Noël Chabanel
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2471-2474: To Bear Witness to the Truth (vatican.va)
• USCCB: Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs
• National Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs: Shrine History
• EWTN News: Our Lady of Martyrs officially declared a national shrine
• National Catholic Register: 8 North American Martyrs honored 100 years after beatification
• Catholic Culture: Feast Day Highlights, the North American Martyrs
• Wikipedia: Canadian Martyrs
• Wikipedia: National Shrine of the North American Martyrs