NOVENA A LOS SANTOS MÁRTIRES CANADIENSES

Traducción de la Novena dispuesta por el padre Edward James Devine McDonnell SJ, e impresa en Toronto por The Canadian Messenger. Imprími Potest por John Milway Filion SJ, Superior provincial de la Compañía de Jesús en Canadá. Imprimátur por Mons. Neil McNeil, Arzobispo de Toronto.

   

FIRST DAY Dedicated to Blessed John de Brebeuf, S.J. Martyred Mar. 16, 1649

 BLESSED John de Brebeuf, known as the Apostle of the Hurons, spent thirteen years laboring among those pagan Indians. His apostolic career, rendered still more thrilling by the sufferings he had to undergo, has made his name venerable in our annals. Even before he quitted his native Normandy he had begun to reveal the sentiments which were uppermost in his soul. "I felt a strong desire to suffer something for Jesus Christ," he wrote, "and I said, 'Lord, make me a man according to Thine own Heart! Make Thy holy will known to me! Let nothing separate me from Thy love, neither nakedness, nor the sword, nor death itself!' "
God listened to these holy desires and gave His heroic servant ample opportunities to suffer during the thirteen years he spent among the Hurons. In the beginning of his ministry he was looked upon as a dangerous sorcerer and was held responsible for all the misfortunes which were visiting the tribe. The plagues which destroyed the Huron villages in 1637 were attributed to his evil influence, and more than once he was threatened with death; but he assured the Indians that death had no terrors for him, seeing that it would bring him eternal life. The confidence of the Blessed Martyr in God's goodness was boundless. His devotion to the Holy Eucharist, to Our Lady and St. Joseph, also sustained him during the long years he spent in the Canadian wilderness.
The heroism of this great servant of God displayed itself in all its grandeur when he fell into the hands of the Iroquois on the morning of March 16, 1649. Those monsters of cruelty tore off his scalp, poured boiling water over his head in derision of holy baptism, applied flaming torches to his naked flesh, encircled his shoulders with red-hot hatchets, and plucked out his eyes. When these tortures did not prevent him from praying to God and sounding His praises, they drove a burning torch down his throat. They completed their cruel work by cleaving open his breast, tearing out his heart and devouring it, hoping thereby to share in their victim's bravery. Blessed John de Brebeuf expired at Fort St. Ignace, near Waubaushene, Ont., on March 16, 1649. REFLECTION The example of this heroic martyr of God teaches me how to bear up under the trials of life. He was abused and calumniated by those whom he had come to save. He was threatened by them with torture and death. And yet these crosses were borne in a spirit of resignation, and only excited him to greater pity for the benighted spiritual state of the Huron Indians and to greater zeal for their salvation. On my journey through life, adversity often presses hard upon me; I too have often heavy crosses to bear. But are they as heavy as those borne by the Blessed Martyr, John de Brebeuf? Have I ever been called upon to shed my blood? A sharp pain, a prolonged illness, a physical infirmity comes to me and I complain bitterly, not realizing that God is sending me opportunities for much merit. How easily I become downcast, how quickly impatient, how rarely resigned! I will ask to holy martyr to obtain for me some of his resignation to God's will, so that after his example I may be able to meet my daily trials in a truly Christian spirit.
Blessed John de Brebeuf, to whom God gave the strength to do great things for the glory of His name and for the salvation of souls, obtain for me, through your intercession, courage to overcome all human respect, resignation in times of trial, confidence in God's power and goodness, and zeal for my spiritual welfare; so that, raised above the things of earth, I may lead a truly Christian life and gain merit for eternity. Amen.

PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee {here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their intercession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen.
Our Father, Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
Blessed John de Brebeuf, intercede for me!

     
SECOND DAY Dedicated to Blessed Isaac Jogues, S.J. Martyred Oct. 18, 1646 A DESIRE to labor in the foreign missions revealed itself early in the life of Blessed Isaac Jogues. He reached Canada in 1636 and set out at once for Georgian Bay. The crushing poverty of his surroundings and his own ill-health did not prevent him from exercising his ministry, going from village to village instructing and baptizing converts. It was this holy man who, in 1639, built Fort Ste. Marie, the fortified residence of the Jesuits in the Huron country.
In those years the Iroquois were growing troublesome; the Ottawa route was blockaded and starvation was facing the missionaries. In 1642 Blessed Isaac Jogues generously volunteered to carry the news to Quebec and bring back supplies. On the return journey, he was seized by a skulking band of Iroquois, beaten with clubs, tied with thongs, flung into a canoe and carried to the Mohawk country. There he suffered still greater torments. His nails were torn away, his fingers were cut off, a squaw chewed off his thumb, he was suspended by the wrists and tortured, little children enjoyed themselves by heaping coals of fire on his naked breast. He was then given to a Mohawk family as a slave. For thirteen months he endured a captivity worse than death, yet refused to escape lest some of his fellow prisoners who were Christians should need his services. When at last he freed himself, in 1643, his pitiable condition aroused the sympathies of the Calvinists of New Amsterdam who received him as a martyr of Jesus Christ and sent him back to France.
Pope Urban VIII. granted him permission to celebrate Mass notwithstanding his mutilated hands, and remarked at the same time that "a martyr of Christ should be allowed to drink the Blood of Christ."
In less than a year he was back in Montreal, laboring as zealously as ever. In 1646, because of his knowledge of the language, his superiors sent him to the Mohawk Valley in the interests of a treaty with the Iroquois. "His heart was seized with dread," he himself informs us, at the prospect of again falling into the hands of the enemy. However, he arranged for the founding of a mission in that "land of his crosses," and promised to return a few months later. Meanwhile the harvest of the Iroquois had become a failure. Those infuriated pagans, victims of their superstition, blamed the holy apostle' for this disaster, and awaited his return with impatience. When he appeared at Ossernenon, (now Auriesville, N.Y.) on October 17, 1646, he was seized and cruelly beaten. The following day a blow from a tomahawk gave Blessed Isaac Jogues the crown of martyrdom.

REFLECTION How seldom do we pause to reflect on the labors and the sufferings of our early missionaries! In this age, replete with ease and the comforts of life, we rarely take the time to recall the careers of the heroic men who sowed the seed of Christianity in this fair land of ours. And yet their heroic daring thrills us. Tortures had no terrors for them. The prospects of a cruel death at the hands of the savages did not prevent them from preaching Christ crucified. Blessed Isaac Jogues himself had premonitions of the fate that awaited him in the Mohawk Valley. Shortly before he set out on his final journey, he wrote to a friend, "I hope you will obtain for me this favor from Our Lord that after having led such a slothful life I may begin to serve Him better. My heart tells me that if I have the blessing of being sent on this mission, I will go but I shall not come back." These were the words of a holy apostle who endeavored to carry out the plans of God and whose zeal drew him to dangerous posts of duty. His humility made him think little of himself, but his confidence in God made him fearless, and enabled him to face the ferocious Iroquois, even though he realized that in doing so he would have to shed his blood.

Blessed Isaac Jogues, glorious martyr of Jesus Christ, how far does my pride and my weakness remove me from your brilliant example; how few are the sacrifices I have made in my life; how frail I am when called upon to shoulder a cross! You, who suffered imprisonment and torture and finally death, strengthen me in my resolutions; help me at least by your intercession to be patient in the trials that God may send me. Amen.
PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee (here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their intercession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
Blessed Isaac Jogues, intercede for me!

   

THIRD DAY Dedicated to Blessed Gabriel Lalemant, S.J. Martyred Mar. 17, 1649 ON account of frail health, Blessed Gabriel Lalemant's ambition to go and labor for the conversion of pagan tribes was long delayed. And yet from his earliest years he had been ' 'asking God with tears and sighs to be sent to the Canadian missions." Meanwhile, we are told, he had consecrated himself to Our Lord for the purpose of re- ceiving from His hand a violent death, either by exposing himself among the plague-stricken in Old France or in seeking to save souls in the New. He would have esteened it a favor had he been allowed to die for God's glory in the flower of his age. "He was one of the most feeble and most delicate men one could see," wrote one of his contemporaries. Yet we know what God's grace can do, no matter how frail an instrument may be, when He chooses it for His honor and glory. When at last permission to cross the Atlantic was granted to Blessed Gabriel, he started off bravely, putting aside all consideration of family and friends. Not that he was insensible to the ties of flesh and blood, as is evident from his letters, but he did not allow kinship to stand between himself and duty. His first impulse on landing at Quebec in 1646 was to begin at once to convert some pagan tribe or other, but his enthusiasm was curbed by his superiors, and he had to spend two years in the French colony before he set out for Georgian Bay. He arrived there in September, 1648, where in the words of Scripture this holy man was destined to complete a long time in a short space. He had been in the Huron country only seven months, and was just beginning to speak the native tongue, when he was seized with Blessed John de Brebeuf and forced to submit to torture, the recital of which makes one shudder. Like his fellow-martyr, he suffered the ordeal of boiling water poured over his head and of flaming torches applied to his naked body; he felt red-hot hatchets encircling his bare shoulders; his eyes were plucked out; his lips cut off; and after sixteen hours of this barbarous treatment, his soul took its flight to God. Blessed Gabriel Lalemant was martyred at Fort St. Ignace, near Waubaushene, Ont., on March 17, 1649. REFLECTION I will picture to myself the fearful agony of those sixteen hours. I will count the sighs sent to heaven from the lips of the Blessed Martyr for strength and courage to bear up under the dreadful torture. Stripped naked like his Divine Master, he had to listen to the scoffs and jibes of his cruel persecutors; like Him he saw his flesh torn and bruised, and like Him he asked pardon for his tormentors who knew not what a fearful crime they were perpetrating. Generosity was the outstanding trait of this servant of God. "If it is reasonable," he wrote, "that one should, even at the cost of a thousand lives, try to bring souls to God, you will find no one more prompt than I am. Silence, then, my soul! Lose thyself in this holy work and give pleasure to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is His due, and thou canst not dispense thyself unless thou wilt live and die an ingrate to His love...." "Yes, my Jesus and my love," he wrote elsewhere, "Thy blood shed for these poor barbarians must be applied for their salvation. Thy name must be adored and Thy kingdom spread over all the nations of the world. I must spend my life for the souls of the poor savages of New France." Brave words, these, that reveal the in- nermost sentiments of the martyr. I shall not be called upon to suffer as did Blessed Gabriel Lalemant, but if I only knew how to profit by the pains and sufferings of this life, how much I could do to atone for my sins! I am weak and fear pain, but I should know that God is ever watching over me, that His angels are counting my steps and weighing the value of my daily actions, and that if I bear my trials with resignation He will be my exceeding great reward. Blessed Gabriel Lalemant who, notwith- stading weakness and ill-health and the appeals of family and friends, generously gave yourself to the work of saving souls, and in so doing sacrificed your life by a cruel death, intercede for me and obtain for me detachment from the things of this world, so that, strong in the freedom of the children of God and following your example, I may share your reward in heaven. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst con- secrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee {here mafe your request), so that the favors obtained through their intercession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Blessed Gabriel Lalemant, intercede for me!

FOURTH DAY Dedicated to Blessed Anthony Daniel, S.J. Martyred July 4, 1648 EARLY in life the lure of worldly honors and riches had enticed Blessed Anthony Daniel, but yielding to a spiritual impulse, he gave himself entirely to the service of God in the Society of Jesus. After his ordination to the priesthood, the call to the laborious missions of Canada grew louder and more imperious, and thither he sailed in the year 1632. He was one of the first Jesuit mission- aries to reach Georgian Bay. "I never saw one more resolute to start out than he," wrote Blessed John de Brebeuf, "even when he was told that he might lose his life on the way." Yet no one suffered more than he did in that long canoe journey of over seven hundred miles. Hunger, thirst, aban- donment, Indian treachery, perils from the waters, were his portion while on the Ottawa route. Father Daniel's talent soon gave him a mastery over the Huron tongue and he had hoped to put his knowledge to good use. A pioneer teacher was this holy man, and he dreamed of forming future catechists among the Hurons who would instruct the other members of their tribe. In 1636, he set out for Quebec with a few Indian boys. When he reached Three Rivers, Father Lejeune wrote: "Our hearts melted at the sight of Father Daniel. His face was gay and happy, but greatly emaciated. He was barefooted, had a paddle in his hand, and was clad in a wretched cassock, with his breviary sus- pended from his neck and his shirt rotting on his back." The failure of his project, owing to the inconstancy of the Indian character, brought him back to Georgian Bay. Then, after having labored in various Huron missions, he was appointed to Teanaostaye, near Mount St. Louis, a village exposed to Iroquois in- cursions and the first to be invaded by the merciless foe. He had completed his annual retreat on July 2, 1648, at Fort Ste. Marie, where he prepared himself for whatever God had in store for him, and returned at once to his flock. Two days later, an army of Iroquois appeared before the palisades of his village. Realizing that the end had come, he encouraged his converts to meet death as Christians should. He hastily baptized his catechumens and then went out to face the enemy. A few moments later his body was riddled with bullets. The enraged Iroquois rushed upon the prostrate form of the missionary, "as if he alone were the object of their hatred," and "smeared their hands and faces with his blood," wrote Bressani, "which flowed through so brave a heart." They then set fire to his chapel and flung his body into the flames. Father Daniel was martyred near Mount St. Louis, on July 4, 1648. REFLECTION A new civilization has sprung up and new conditions have arisen in this land since the Blessed Martyrs trod its soil. We, who pamper ourselves in the ease and luxury of modern life and who chafe under the little disappointments we meet daily, would find it difficult to visualize the hardships those heroic men underwent or the sufferings they endured. The tiresome journey over the Ottawa route, now travelled in a few hours, took weeks in the seventeenth century — and no one suffered more than Blessed Anthony Daniel. Crouched barefooted in a bark canoe, paddle in hand for many hours each day, bending under his pack in the long portaging over rocky trails, and sleeping under the stars at night, were happenings common in his career. When the Huron mission along Georgian Bay was reached, discomforts of every kind, insufficient cloth- ing to wear, cold to endure during the long winters, wretched cabins to live in, filthy savages to live with, unhealthy food to eat, hatred to placate, superstitions and vices to combat, were the everyday experiences of his life. But this holy man reckoned not the cost in his quest for souls among the poor Indians whom he had come to instruct and convert. The Relations tell us that "Father Daniel seemed to have been born for the salvation of his flock," and add that "he had no greater desire than to die foi them, and we hope that this country will find in him a powerful intercessor before God." Blessed Anthony Daniel, cold and slothful as I am in God's service and easily disturbed at the hardships I meet in life, I realize that I do little for my own soul and less for the soul of my neighbor. Strengthen me with your courage; inspire in me a lively interest for all that makes for the glory of God and the welfare of His Church; impart to my soul some of your enthusiasm and zeal, so that I may also share in the happiness you are now enjoying in heaven. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst con- secrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flour- ishing harvest of Christians may be every- where and always increased. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.     PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the conversion of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee, {here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their interces- sion may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Blessed Anthony Daniel, intercede for me!

FIFTH DAY Dedicated to Blessed Charles Gamier, S.J. Martyred Dec. 7, 1649 FROM his earliest childhood, Blessed Charles Gamier was an angel of in- nocence and purity. At first, his parents opposed his design to enter the Society of Jesus, but when they realized that their beloved child was really in earnest, they made the sacrifice nobly. When the moment of separation came, the Superiors of the Order were told that they were about to receive one who from his birth had never committed the least disobedience and had never given his parents the least displeasure. The young man himself, whose devotion to our Lady was paramount, acknowledged in after life that it was she who carried him in her arms in his youthful years, and that it was to her he owed his vocation to the Society of her Divine Son. The arduous missions of Canada attracted the young priest and his only desire was to begin as soon as possible the work of con- version among the Indians along Goergian Bay. He had hardly reached his mission, when he was stricken down with fever and was soon at the point of death. But God was reserving him for other labors, and not- withstanding the accompaniments of dire poverty, lack of medical aid and unwhole- some food, he recovered slowly, acquired a knowledge of the Huron tongue and started out on an active apostolate of thirteen years, Driven from the Petun country as a sorcerer, he spent six years at Teanaostaye, where he succeeded in winning many souls to God. Replete with every gift of nature and of grace, he was irresistible in his appeals to the uncouth pagans. Converts were won to the faith and moved to devotion at the mere sight of his angelic face, and all who came in contact with him took away a deep impression of his virtue. But this interior perfection of soul was, as in the case of all holy men, sustained by a life of rigid penance. Every time he returned from his mission journeys, he sharpened the iron points of the belt which he wore next to his flesh. He mortified his tastes and inclinations in every way; food, lodging, surroundings, all gave him a foretaste of the martyrdom which was soon to be his reward. When he returned to the Petun nation, whence he had once been driven as a sorcerer, he found among those Indians a large outlet for his devouring zeal. The Iroquois, prowling around in bands, swooped down on the defenceless inhabitants of the village of Etharita on December 7, 1649, put many to death and made prisoners of all who could not escape. Father Gamier was one of the victims of this merciless massacre. When implored to save himself by flight, he resolutely refused, exercising his charity to the end. Even though mortally wounded and weltering in his blood, he tried to assist a poor Huron who had also received his death wound. A few moments later, the blow of an Iroquois tomahawk penetrated his brain, and his pure soul took its flight to God. Blessed Charles Gamier was martyred on December 7, 1649. REFLECTION The memory of this holy martyr is one of the most highly cherished in our mis- sionary annals, and many practical lessons may be gleaned from the study of his life. His innocence and purity of soul, the suffer- ings he endured, coupled with the penances he inflicted on his virginal body, have cast a halo over his career. One of his com- panions in the mission field wrote of this lovable man, " During the four years that I lived with him I never saw in him a single fault that was directly against any virtue/' Father Ragueneau, his spiritual adviser for twelve years, could write immediately after his glorious death, "His great desire for holiness had grown with him from child- hood. I can truly say that in those twelve years I do not think that, save in sleep, he spent a single hour without a vehement desire of advancing more and more in the ways of God, and of urging on his fellow- men in the same direction. Nothing in the world turned him from these considerations, neither relatives nor friends, neither rest nor fatigue. God was his all. All else meant nothing for him." Blessed Charles Gamier, whose innocence of life and burning zeal for souls have, during three hundred years, given you a hallowed place in our annals, help me to be generous in the service of God. I fear pain, I shun mortification, I lack generosity. Your ex- ample is before me; your spotless purity, your rigorous penances, your devotion to Our Lady, all impress me. I now ask your intercession whereby my resolutions may be strengthened. Inspire in me a love of purity and zeal. Give me courage to do something for my soul, so that in the end I may share your bliss in Paradise. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst con- secrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourish- ing harvest of Christians may be every- where and always be increased. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I be- seech Thee {here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their interces- sion may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. ' Glory to be the Father. Blessed Charles Gamier, intercede for me! 

 SIXTH DAY Dedicated to Blessed Noel Chabanel, SJ. Martyred Dec. 8, 1649 THE Spirit of God had spoken early to the soul of Blessed Noel Chabanel, for he was only seventeen when he took up the obligations of the religious life. Meanwhile the desire to consecrate himself to the arduous Canadian missions was asserting itself. "God gave him a strong vocation for those coun- tries," wrote one of his contemporaries, and he seized the earliest opportunity to cross the Atlantic. Patiently bearing the hard- ships of a three months' voyage, he reached Quebec in August, 1643, and, full of zeal and enthusiasm, lost no time in 'starting for the Huron country. But the young mis- sionary was quickly undeceived. The wild aspect of Georgian Bay, with its half-naked Indian population, their miserable cabins, their poverty and squalor, their gross ways and manners, all made a profound impression on his sensitive soul. And, to add to his sorrow, after months of serious study, he made little or no progress in the barbarous Huron tongue. Only then it dawned upon him that his life was to be one unbroken chain of disappointments, an ordeal that he himself called a "bloodless martyrdom." The deep sense of his own uselessness was so completely overpowering that the temptation came to him to abandon the Huron field and return to France where he could find employment better suited to his talents and his character. Why fritter away his life fruitlessly among barbarians? But Chabanel had put his hand to the plough and he was resolved not to turn back till he had reached the end of the furrow. In order to bind himself irrevocably to the Huron mission, he made a vow in 1647 to remain there till death. For two years he stood in the shadow of martyrdom and was then slain secretly by an apostate Huron. The assassin confessed his crime, and added that he did it out of hatred of the Christian faith. "Chabanel's death," wrote Charlevoix, "while it was less striking in the eyes ol men, was not less striking in the eyes of God, Who judges according to the disposition of our hearts and Who keeps as strict account of what we would like to have done as of what we have done." Blessed Noel Chabanel was martyred on the banks of the Notta- wasaga, on December 8, 1649. REFLECTION What an illustrious example of persever- ance in the midst of difficulties and of heroic resignation to God's will Blessed Noel Chabanel gives us! This holy Martyr had hoped to be a useful worker in the vineyard, yet disappointment and ill-success met him at every turn. Persuaded that his was an unprofitable life, he lived for five years in perpetual desolation, a species of torture which for holy and sensitive souls like his closely resembles its counterpart in blood. In this extremity who would blame Noel Chabanel if he sought somewhere a ray of courage and consolation ? But the Relations inform us that this saintly man carried his cross bravely, and rather than consent to be released from his burden, obliged him- self by vow to carry it even unto death. I often complain of the trials I have to put up with, but how insignificant are mine when compared with those of Blessed Noel! I have never had to live in the shadow of martyrdom, nor have I had occasion to complain, as he did once, that the crown had been snatched from him, a circumstance he attributed to his own unworthiness. Encouraged by his example, I will accept the trials that God sends me. I will bear the cross as long as He wills it. I will implore this great servant of God to intercede for me and obtain for me the grace to enable me to do so. Blessed Noel Chabanel, whose heart burned with the desire to sacrifice all for the glory and honor of God, obtain for me a right appreciation of the trials and suffer- ings of this life. Let not disappointments discourage me nor crosses weigh me down, so that strengthened by the example of your heroic constancy and perseverance in the service of God on earth, I may some day share your reward in heaven. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest ot Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world with- out end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee {here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their intercession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Blessed Noel Chabanel, intercede for me!

SEVENTH DAY Dedicated to Blessed Rene Goupil, S.J. Martyred Sept. 29, 1642 BLESSED Rene Goupil was one of those earnest men who wished to gain their eternal crown by serving God in humble employments. For this purpose he entered the Jesuit Order in early life and gave edi- fication by his strict observance of the rules. His health failed him, however, and he had to return to secular life, determined, not- withstanding, to do something for God. The perusal of the Relations had shown him that if he could not work directly in the apostolate of souls, he could at least help those who were thus employed, and he sailed for Canada about the year 1640 to serve the mission- aries who labored there. During the follow- ing two years his skill as a surgeon gave him ample scope for activity among both the French colonists and the native con- verts, in whom he saw our Lord in His suffering members and whom he treated with sweet patience and charity. While on his way to the Huron country with Blessed Isaac Jogues, in 1642, he was seized by the Iroquois and obliged to undergo fearful tortures. His virtue revealed itself in those crucial moments of his life. In an act of sublime resignation, he turned to his priestly companion and exclaimed, "May God be blessed! He has permitted this. May His will be done! I accept this cross, I desire it, I embrace it with all my heart." His captors tore of his finger nails, crushed his bleeding fingers between their teeth, and showered blows upon him. Notwithstanding the excruciating pains he was enduring, the holy young man showed great fortitude and presence of mind, and although suffering himself, he succeeded in helping Father Jogues to instruct a Huron who had not yet been baptized and who was begging to receive the sacrament. Rene Goupil was taken prisoner to the Mohawk country, where further tortures were inflicted upon him. It was while on this bitter journey that he begged Father Jogues to receive his vows, asserting that God had always given him a great desire to con- secrate himself to His service in the Society of Jesus. The Indians of Ossernenon, the first Mohawk village, received him with a shower of blows, so that when he entered the gates of the palisade he sank to the ground, bruised and disfigured and weltering in his blood. He was not slain immediately, as he expected, but a few weeks later he was seen making the Sign of the Cross on the forehead of a little Indian child. A super- stitious pagan, becoming enraged at this act, ordered one of the young warriors to kill him. The wretch raised his tomahawk and split the martyr's skull open. Blessed Rene Goupil was slain at Auriesville, in the Mohawk Valley, on September 29, 1642. REFLECTION Holiness, coupled with a spirit of self- sacrifice, is the picture presented to us in the admirable life of this young martyr. His virtue was vouched for by his companion in captivity. "It was on the feast of St. Michael," wrote Blessed Isaac Jogues, "that this angel of innocence and martyr of Jesus Christ gave His life for Him who had offered up His for him. I kissed his relics very de- voutly several times as those of a martyr. I give him this title," added Father Jogues, "not merely because he was slain by the ene- mies of God and His Church, and in the exercise of an ardent charity towards his neighbor, by putting himself in evident peril for the love of God, but especially because he was slain on account of prayer and nota- bly for the Sign of the Cross." Hatred of the Cross of Christ was the motive that inspired the savage Iroquois to murder Rene Goupil. Father Bressani, him- self a victim of their cruelty, wrote two years later: "They particularly hate the Sign of the Cross, which they have learned from the Dutch to be a veritable superstition, and on this account they killed the good Rene Goupil, the companion of Father Jogues." 

 Blessed Rene Goupil, whose zeal for the Cross of Christ merited the crown of martyr- dom, give me the courage always to glory in the Cross and never to be ashamed of it. Help me to understand, what seems so hard to my ungenerous soul, that the more wil- lingly I carry my cross the lighter it becomes; so that, following your example and that of the saints, I may in patience and long-suffering carry my burdens bravely to the end. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst con- secrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourish- ing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God, Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I beseech Thee (here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their interces- sion may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy Name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Blessed Rene Goupil, intercede for me! 

 EIGHT DAY Dedicated to Blessed John de la Lande Martyred Oct. 19, 1646 THIS young layman and saintly com- panion of Blessed Isaac Jogues was a victim of the Iroquois who had learned to hate the doctrines of Christ and to fear those who taught them. He was chosen to ac- company Father Jogues when the latter set out in 1646 to found a mission among the Iroquois in the Mohawk Valley. The dangers of the journey were not hidden from him. When told that he might have to suffer, he gladly offered himself for the enterprise, looking only to God to protect him and to be his reward if the sacrifice of his life were demanded. Or, as Father Ragueneau puts it, "He belonged to a chosen few who were only too happy to pour out their sweat and, if need be, their blood, in order to contribute as much as they could towards the con- version of the barbarians." The brave youth did not count the cost of the sacrifice he was about to make. "Although he was aware of the danger," wrote Father Bressani, "he faced it courageously, without hope of any reward but Paradise." The hour had come at last when his virtue was to be put to its first heroic test, and when he was to taste the bitter cup which God presents to the lips of those for whom He has reserved the princely crown of martyrdom. With fiendish delight the Iroquois threw themselves on John de la Lande, stripped him naked and belabored him with blows. Father Jogues had already tasted the agony of Iroquois cruelty, but it was a new and thrilling experience for the young man, who notwithstanding his dreadful sufferings possessed his soul in peace. "You shall die tomorrow!" the chiefs exclaimed. "Your head will fall under our tomahawks and will be placed on our palisades to show your brethren what fate awaits them." Meanwhile pieces of his flesh were cut from his arms and devoured before his eyes. Wild threats of assassination were being echoed in the village of Ossernenon. A few hours later, the threat was executed upon Isaac Jogues. On the following day it was the turn of John de la Lande, at Auriesville, in the Mohawk Valley, October 19, 1646. REFLECTION Here I pause to admire the hidden ways of God. In after years the ferocious Iroquois who had slain our martyrs, and who for nearly half a century were the mortal enemies of the Christian faith, had the Gospel preached to them and became humble followers of Christ. In the very land where Blessed John de la Lande, Isaac Jogues and Rene Goupil had been slain for the faith, flourish- ing missions were founded and flowers of holiness blossomed forth. Under the divine influence of the doctrines of Christ, preached by the successors of those martyrs, wolves became lambs, and glory was given to God in a land where the enemy of men's souls had so long held sway. The blood of martyrs had become the seed of Christians in the New World as in the Old; but in order to bring this about, holy missionaries in their sweat and blood blazed their way through the dense growth of superstition which had lor centuries gathered around the unhappy Indian tribes. In the designs of God, ap- parently, our heroic missionary age — the second quarter of the seventeenth century — had to be lived through and endured. Surely the eight victims of that tragic era who gave their blood so freely, and who have been raised to the honors of the altar by the Infallible Church, have still some interest in the land where they won their crowns of martyrdom and will listen to the humble petitions of those who ask their intercession. They were the friends of God in those years; they are not less His friends in the age in which we live. Blessed John de la Lande, who conse- crated your life to God in the service of His missionaries, who served those holy men in lowly employments, and who in the end received the crown which is the reward of humble and devoted service, intercede for me with the Divine Master, so that if my petition be agreeable to His holy will I may obtain what I ask. Amen. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world with- out end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I be- seech Thee {here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their inter- cession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Blessed John de la Lande, intercede for me!

NINTH DAY Dedicated to The Queen of Martyrs -♦K 4 MARY lovingly watched over our Martyrs during the years of their labors and sufferings along Georgian Bay, and those heroic men endeavored to repay her for her motherly love and tenderness. "The general and special obligations that we are under to this great Princess of heaven and earth," wrote a Huron missionary in 1638, "makes it one of our keenest disap- pointments that we are not able to show her sufficient gratitude. At least we can claim the consolation that henceforth as often as people shall speak of the chief residence of the mission of the Hurons, calling it by the name of Ste. Marie, it will be so much homage rendered to her for what we owe to her and hold from her, and a pledge of what we wish to be to her forever." Fort Ste. Marie will remain forever an historic monument of the devotion of Blessed John de Brebeuf and his Companions to their incomparable Queen. It was built in her honor and given her name. Thither they went after their wanderings and fatigues to rest and recuperate their strength for other labors. Under Mary's roof, hidden away in a forest near Georgian Bay, they gathered together at stated times to confer on the interests of their missions. In that home of peace, and under her protecting mantle, they withdrew to commune with God in their annual retreats. At Fort Ste. Marie they assembled their Huron neophytes for instruction and baptism. There thousands of Indian pilgrims gathered yearly to renew their pledge of perseverance in the practices of the Christian faith. And when the moment of disaster came in 1649, it was there that the venerable victims of the Iroquois, Blessed John de Brebeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, were laid in their graves. REFLECTION Happily the memory of Mary and her Canadian Martyrs has been revived at the self-same spot. After three hundred years the Shrine of Fort Ste. Marie has risen from its ruins, and its two steeples, now silhouetted against the sky, will recall not merely the years when Mary reigned in the hearts of her humble servants laboring along Georgian Bay, but it will renew in our times scenes often witnessed in that heroic age. As in the seventeenth century, when thou- sands of Huron Christians, urged by holy men as yet uncrowned by martyrdom, went to Fort Ste. Marie to implore the aid of Mary in their trials and sorrows, so also in the twentieth other thousands, attracted by the glory of Ste. Marie's beatified apostles, will frequent the same venerable spot, there to pour out their prayers and supplications. And as they kneel and pray at a Shrine teeming with so many historic and holy souvenirs, they may confidently hope that the Queen of Heaven and her heroic sons, now ennobled by the Church, will listen to their petitions and will generously grant them what they ask for. Glorious Queen of Martyrs, to whom the early missionaries of this country were so devoted and from whom they received so many favors, graciously listen to my petition. Ask Thy Divine Son to remember all they did for His glory; remind Him that they preached the Gospel and made His holy Name known to thousands who had never heard of Him, and then had their apostolic labors crowned by shedding their blood for Him. Exercise thy motherly influence as thou didst at Cana, and implore Him to grant me what I ask in this Novena if it be conformable to His holy will. PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE MARTYRS O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Martyrs, Blessed John and Isaac and their Companions, didst conse- crate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant NINTH DAY 43 that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. PRAYER OF PETITION O God Who didst inflame the hearts of Thy Blessed Martyrs with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls, grant me, I be- seech Thee (here make your request), so that the favors obtained through their inter- cession may make manifest before men the power and the glory of Thy name. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father. Mary Queen of Martyrs, intercede for me!

LITANY In Honor of the Blessed Martyrs (For private use) LORD, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us Holy Mary, Mother of God, ♦Blessed John de Brebeuf , noble apostle and martyr, *Blessed Isaac Jogues, doubly a martyr for Christ, *Blessed Gabriel Lalemant, hero of constancy in martyrdom, ♦Blessed Anthony Daniel, martyr of zeal and selfsacrifice, ♦Blessed Charles Gamier, angel of penance and martyr, •Blessed Noel Chabanel, martyred in desolation and abandonment, Blessed Rene Goupil, martyred for the sign of the Cross, Blessed John de la Lande, martyred in the service of martyrs, All ye Holy Martyrs of Christ, Pioneers of the Cross in a new world, Heroic apostles of the faith, Zealous promoters of God's glory, Men consumed with love for souls, Fruitful leaders of souls to God, Men of prayer and action, * Asterisks indicate the six martyrs who lived at Fort Ste. Marie (1639-1649). The ashes of Blessed John de Brebeuf and Gahrul Lahmant still lie buried there. Lovers of poverty, Models of purity, Faithful in obedience, Intrepid in dangers, Undaunted in hardships, Followers of Christ Crucified, Fearless in suffering for Christ, Enduring hunger and thirst for Christ, Stripped and scourged for Christ, Tortured by fire for Christ, Cruelly slain for Christ, Peerless athletes of God, Loving children of the Queen of Martyrs, Filial clients of St. Joseph, Worthy sons of St. Ignatius, Our intercessors in Heaven,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O Blessed Martyrs, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
LET US PRAY O God, Who by the preaching and the blood of Thy Blessed Martyrs, John and Isaac and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may be everywhere and always increased. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son Who liveth and reigneth in union with the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.


«Soy un pecador, pero sé diferenciar entre un pastor y un mercenario. Creo que la gran mayoría de estos obispos son solo un grupo de mercenarios que “castigan” a los sacerdotes que siguen la ortodoxia. Y mi pregunta es ¿quién los tiene contratados? Yo no creo que sea Jesús. ¿Es Francisco? ¿Quién contrata a Francisco? ¿Es la Pachamama?». (MEL GIBSON).