St. Jean de Brebeuf
Jean de Brébeuf was ordained at thirty-three. He was the first Jesuit Missionary in Huronia (1626), a master of the Indian language. He worked throughout all the district, founded Mission outposts, and converted thousands to the faith. He inspired many Jesuits to volunteer for the Missions of New France. Massive in body, strong yet gentle in character, his visions of the cross and of his future martyrdom were fulfilled when he was captured March 16, 1649. He was tortured for hours and was martyred at St. Ignace, six miles from Ste. Marie. Brebeuf is said to have the heart of a giant. He was known as the apostle of the Hurons.

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St. Gabriel Lalemant
Gabriel Lalemant, a Jesuit at nineteen, was ordained at twenty-seven and became a scholar, professor, and college administrator. He was delicate in body and had a strong desire for the Mission of Huronia. After two years in Canada, he left for Huronia. Seven months later, he was able to speak the native tongue. For one month, he was assistant to Brebeuf and then his companion in Martyrdom. He died March 17, 1649, at St. Ignace. He summed up his faith in God, "My strength is the strength of God. In Him, I can do all things."

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St. Anthony Daniel
Anthony Daniel was ordained a priest at twenty-nine, was a missionary near Bras-d'or Lakes (1632), founded the first boys' College in North America (Quebec 1635), and laboured in Huronia for twelve years. In 1648, he made his retreat at Ste. Marie and returned to his mission twelve miles away. On July 4, he had just finished Mass when the Mission was attacked. In Mass vestments, he faced the enemy, encouraging the Christian converts to live their faith and thus giving time for some to escape. His martyred body was thrown into the flames of the burning Church. This was at St. Louis. He was forty-eight.

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St. Charles Garnier
Charles Garnier was a Jesuit Missionary in Huronia at age thirty-one. For thirteen years, he was pastor and missionary to the Hurons and Petuns. Gentle, innocent, fearless, and a man of faith, he drew converts to the Church. Even when the Mission of Etharita was attacked and he was wounded, he continued to baptize neophytes and to assist the wounded. In these acts, he died at the age of forty-four about thirty miles from Ste. Marie.

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St. Noel Chabanel
Noel Chabanel, a Jesuit priest at twenty-eight and a successful professor and humanist in France, had a strong desire to come to the Canadian Missions. Here he was unable to learn the native language and felt useless in his ministry. He took a vow to remain in the missions, on the cross of seeming failure, always in the shadow of martyrdom. Even his martyrdom came secretly at the hands of an apostate on December 8, 1649, on the Nottawasaga, twenty-five miles from Ste. Marie.

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St. Isaac Jogues
Isaac Jogues came to Huronia in 1636, worked at mission outposts for three years, helped to build Ste. Marie (1639), and explored as far west as Sault Ste. Marie. Captured by the Iroquois when returning to Ste. Marie from Quebec (1642), he was tortured, he lost his fingers, and he was made a slave. He escaped to France, but he returned the same year to be an emissary and missionary to the Iroquois. He was martyred at Auriesville, N.Y. at the age of thirty-nine.

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St. Rene Goupil
Rene Goupil studied medicine and offered his services to the Jesuit missions in Canada. Originally, he had to leave the Jesuit novitiate because of ill health. On his way to Ste. Marie, he and Isaac Jogues were captured and tortured. He was martyred while making the Sign of the Cross on a child. It took place at Auriesville, N.Y. He was thirty-five. He was the first of the eight Martyrs to receive the crown of Martyrdom.

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St. Jean de Lalande (see picture above)
At nineteen, Jean de Lalande offered his services as a layman to the Jesuits in New France. He accompanied Jogues to the Mohawk Mission (1646), was captured with him, and was tortured. He saw Jogues martyred. On the following day (October 19, 1646), he himself was killed, a martyr, at Auriesville, N.Y.

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