Georgetown University - Ye Domesday Booke Yearbook (Georgetown, DC)

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Group of pilgrims attending Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the ravine at the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs, Auriesville, N.Y. In some undiscovered spot of this hallowed ground, lie the sacred remains of Rene Goupil, buried there by Isaac Jogues, in 1643. Jogues himself and John de Lalande were also martyred on this site, and their bodies hurled into the Mohawk River. The other five martyrs were put to death, near Midland, Ontario. Wnz tora of the Martgrs Uunncth i:iius O our generation, perhaps more than to any other, the primary aspect of life is one of conflict. We have matured to enter a world of war, and have known useless, horrible destruction, such as has never before occurred. We have seen the safety of our vast, arduously constructed civilization imperiled by the same forces which brought it into being. These are the forces of strife, of conflict ; and it is truly they that mold the life of humanity. History and personal experience compel us to see in man ' s existence a ceaseless struggle to learn, to love, to perfect, to be happy; a struggle against the very elements, against illness, both spiritual and physical, against hate, against ambition, treachery and deception. Good or evil, right or wrong, all are acquired or avoided only by some type of com- bat. The warrior ' s reward from the world is honor. To those who give their lives for others, as have one hundred and seventy-one sons of Georgetown, we offer special love and grati- tude. Here we shall speak of another, an even greater sacrifice. We shall speak of eight men who died, not that men might live on earth, but that they might gain the eternal, perfect life with God. What sort of world was it, the world of three hundred years ago, that produced these giants of faith? The Thirty Years ' War shook Europe and produced such leaders as Tilly, Wallenstein, Gustavus Adolphus and Turenne. It was the age of literary genius. Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Lord Bacon, Moliere, Corneille and Racine produced works that have en- riched our culture immeasurably. Science was coming into its birthright ; Galileo, Torrecelli, Napier, Kircher, Huygens, Kepler, and count-

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rv? =i-C l i reater love than this no man hath, than that a man lay down his life for his friend.

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less others were laying the foundations of our modem scientific civilization. Philosophers like Descartes, Spinoza, Locke and Pascal, whose theories still influence and will continue to influence the thought and conduct of multi- tudes, were born then. Art flourished under such masters as Rembrandt, Rubens, Murillo, Velasquez and Bernini. Civilization had broken its leash, and was moving forward with great bounds. To keep up with these advances, education became more widespread, and hundreds of new schools appeared. In France, the number of Jesuit Colleges alone increased from twenty to seventy in the first half of the seventeenth century. The influence of the Jesuit educa- tional system was such, that Jesuit colleges be- came the popular schools of their time. For two centuries, they educated men whose in- fluence extended to all phases of life — Buffon, Moliere, Descartes, Bossuet, Montesquieu, Francis de Sales, all were graduates of Jesuit institutions. Exploration was at its height. The English, French and Dutch settled in America and by 1634 colonies had been established in seven of what are now the United States. The missionary spirit was aroused; and the Society of Jesus sent hundreds to do the work of Christ in all parts of the world. Peter Cla- ver, Spinola, Andrada and many more Jesuits were martyred in their zeal to further the domain of Christianity. To the ranks of these elect were called six Jesuit priests, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brebeuf, Noel Chabanel, An- toine Daniel, Charles Gamier, Gabriel Lale- mant, and their two lay companions, Rene Goupil and Jean de Lalande, All were French- men, and all died for Christ among the In- dians of North America. Isaac Jogues was the first of the priests to be martyred. He was born in Orleans, Jan- uary 10, 1607. It seems almost prophetic that, destined as he was for sacrifice, he should be named Isaac. He was educated at the Jesuit college in Orleans, finished at seventeen, and became a Jesuit novice at Rouen. He studied philosophy for three years at the royal college of La Fleche and after receiving the usual training of a Jesuit, he was ordained, early in 1636. While at La Fleche, Jogues first read of the American missions in an account by Father Masse, a returned missionary. The deeds of his missionary brothers particularly impressed him. In fact, the death of Blessed Charles Spinola in Japan so affected him, that he carried with him a picture of Spinola ' s martyr- dom. From that time on, he prayed constantly to merit a martyr ' s death. At Rouen, where Jogues taught during his regency, he met Fathers Brebeuf, Lalemant and Masse. From them he heard of hardships, tortures, privations, treachery. Far from being discouraged, he became determined to work as a missionary in North America. He even requested permission to stop the study of theology (on the pretext of lack of ability); and be sent to the missions as a lay brother. He had not been ordained two months, when his prayers were answered; and on May 2, 1636, he set sail from Dieppe, in the company of Charles Gamier. The oldest of the group, and the only one to reach the age of fifty was Jean de Brebeuf. He was born in Normandy at Conde-sur-Vire, the son of noble parents. Little is known of him before he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Rouen, when he was twenty-four. He had studied the humanities, moral theology and philosophy, each for two years before he be- came a novice. He studied theology sufficiently to qualify for ordination in six years ; and cele- brated his first Mass on April 4, 1623. In 1625, !