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Saint Isaac Jogues
Image: Donald Guthrie McNab · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Isaac Jogues

French Jesuit missionary in New France and one of the North American martyrs

Rank
Saint
Kind
Martyr, Priest, Missionary
Life
1607 – 1646
Era
17th century
Feast
19 October
Countries
France, United States, Canada
CanadaUnited StatesFrance

Life story

Isaac Jogues was born on 10 January 1607 in Orléans, France. He entered the Jesuits in 1624, taught literature at Rouen, and was ordained a priest in 1636. The same year he sailed to New France (Canada) and worked for about six years among the Huron and neighbouring peoples around the Great Lakes.

On 3 August 1642, while returning from Quebec, he was captured near Three Rivers by a Mohawk party, together with René Goupil, Guillaume Couture and Huron companions. He was tortured and taken to the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, where he was held as a slave for about thirteen months. With the help of the Dutch at Fort Orange he escaped to New Amsterdam and sailed to France, landing in Brittany on Christmas morning 1643.

Because of his damaged hands he could not celebrate Mass under church law, so the pope granted him a special exception. In early spring 1644 he returned to Canada. In 1646 he was sent to negotiate peace with the Mohawk and reached Ossernenon on 5 June, where a treaty was made. He then returned to Quebec, asked to go back as a missionary, and set out with Jean de Lalande on 27 September 1646.

On 18 October 1646 the Mohawk killed him with a tomahawk at Ossernenon; Lalande was killed the next day. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1925 and canonized him on 29 June 1930 together with seven other North American martyrs. Their shared feast is 19 October.

Works and witness

  • Entered the Jesuits in 1624 and was ordained in 1636
  • Worked among the Huron and neighbouring peoples in New France
  • Captured by the Mohawk on 3 August 1642, tortured and held captive about thirteen months
  • Escaped with Dutch help, reached France in late 1643, returned to Canada in 1644
  • Killed on 18 October 1646; canonized in 1930

Saints from the same country

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Louis IX of France, Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Francis de Sales

References

  • Catholic Encyclopedia: 'St. Isaac Jogues' (newadvent.org/cathen/08420b.htm)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.