CrucisSt. Isaac Jogues
St. Isaac Jogues was born on 10 January 1607 at Orléans, France, and entered the Society of Jesus, sailing in 1636 to the missions of New France to bring the Gospel to the native peoples. He labored among the Huron near the Great Lakes until, in 1642, he was captured by a Mohawk war party, tortured savagely, and enslaved; several of his fingers were mutilated or cut off, a mark he would carry for life.
Rescued at last by Dutch settlers and returned to France, he was received with honor, and the pope granted him a special dispensation to celebrate Mass with his maimed hands, saying it would be shameful for a martyr of Christ not to drink the Blood of Christ. Yet his heart remained with the mission, and he returned to New France. Sent again among the Mohawk on an errand of peace, he was seized and killed with a tomahawk on 18 October 1646 at Ossernenon in present-day New York. Canonized in 1930, he is honored among the North American Martyrs, celebrated on 19 October.
Selected quotes
“Return to the work that wounded you, for love does not flee the field of suffering.”
“Fear not those who can harm the body; the soul belongs to God alone.”
“Carry the Gospel into the wilderness, for no land is too wild for the love of Christ.”