Before the Canadian Martyrs shed their blood for the Kingdom of God, they lived a
remarkable life.
Song
St. Jean de Brebeuf (1593-1649) wrote the first Christmas song in Canada, the “Huron Carol”, (CBWII, #467), or "Jesus Anaonhia".
Sports
It is also Brebeuf from whom the name “Lacrosse” is derived. Lacrosse originated in the 1400’s, but it was named by Fr. Jean de Brebeuf in 1636 as ‘la croix’ because of the resemblance of the sticks used in the game to the cross.
Literature
St. Jean de Brebeuf also compiled the
first Huron-English dictionary.
Medicine
St. Rene Goupil is the patron
Bibliography on the Canadian Martyrs
The Jesuit Relations and allied documents
Saint Louis : Huron Indian village and Jesuit mission site / W. Jury, UWO 1955 map. Ill.
Saints in the wilderness : the story of St. Isaac Jogues and the Jesuit adventure in the New World. Garden City NY : Doubleday, 1964 216p.
Jesuit & savage in the New France / John Hopkins Kennedy, New Haven : Yale University Press 1950 (Yale historical publication, Miscellany; 50) 206p fold map.
The Indians of North America ed by Edna Kenton from “The Jesuits relations and allied documents: travels and explorations of the Jesuit missionaries in New France 1610-1791". Ill.,
maps c1927 (Jesuits, letters from Mission, [N. America]).
The Jesuits Martyrs of North America, Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brebeuf…. / John J. Wynne, SJ N.Y.: Universal Knowledge Foundation. c1925 248 p. ports. Maps.
The First Martyrs of North America – the Story of the Eight Jesuit Martyrs / John A. O’Brien Notre Dame Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press 1960 c1953, 310p maps. (C: 1953 “The American Martyrs”)
Saint Among Savages : the Life of Isaac Jogues / Francis Talbot, S.J., New York : Doubleday 1961.
CMCC