Feast of St. Isaac Jogues and Companions
SS. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf and Companions-September 26
From among the members of the Society of Jesus who were taking care of the rugged mission territory of New France in the middle of the seventeenth century and bringing great glory to the early Church in North America, God chose for Himself eight most pure victims, who were sacrificed in various localities now included within New York State and Ontario, Canada. Regarded as the leaders and guiding spirits among them are John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, valiant men, inflamed with an apostolic zeal for souls, practicing mortification to a heroic degree, keeping close to God by prayer. Similar virtues adorned the lives of the priests Anthony Daniel, Gabrial Lalemant, Charles Garnier and Noel Chabanel, as well as the lives of their helpers, René Coupil and John Lalande. Their life itself was like a martyrdom because of the character and the wretched conditions of the Huron Indians of that time. This life was ended with a bloody death for all of them, and always, for the same reason, their religion, though not all were killed in the same place or at the same time. Some of them endured almost unbelievable tortures with such invincible courage as to arouse the admiration of the savage executioners themselves. Pius XI enrolled them among the Blessed, and shortly thereafter, their virtues having been attested by miracles, among the Saints.
(From Matins of the feast of SS. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf and Companions)