NOVENA IN HONOR OF THE ONLY CANONIZED SAINTS OF NORTH AMERICA ISAAC JOGUES JOHN DE BREBEUF GABRIEL LALEMANT CHARLES GARNIER ANTHONY DANIEL NOEL CHABANEL reNe GOUPIL tJfr JOHN LALANDE OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS MARTYRS NOVENA Q OVENA means nine successive days of prayer. The first novena began after Our Lord ascended into heaven. It lasted nine days until on Pentecost Sunday the Holy Ghost came upon the Apostles and Disciples who, with Our Blessed Mother, were awaiting His coming, "persevering with one mind in prayer" (Acts 1, 14). That is the model novena. Through the Church we are still reaping its fruit. Why nine days? Because so many days of earnest prayer and the blessings they bring dispose us to persevere in prayer, to do Our Lord’s bidding by "pray- ing at all times" (Luke 21, 36). Usually a novena is made before some Feast, as of Pentecost, the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Concep- tion, or the Feast of some Saint, or group of Saints, like our Jesuit Martyrs. The practice is good at any time, whenever one desires to honor some Mystery or Saint, or obtain special blessings. For many reasons a public novena in honor of the only canonized Saints of North America should be a nation-wide observance prior to their Feast, 26 Septem- ber. If a novena be inconvenient the following reflec- tions and prayers can easily be adapted for a triduum, or the triduum can be in honor of Goupil, Lalande, Jogues, who were martyred on our own soil. When the Book of Life is opened to our gaze it will rejoice us to see the names of countless men and women who have consecrated by their labors, some even by Copyright: 1936, John J. Wynne 2 NOVENA shedding their blood, this well-favored land of ours. Some day we may hope to have, as in other countries, our American Book of Saints: for this we should pray. Meanwhile we should honor those who can obtain for us great blessings as they did even in the day of their earthly pilgrimage and trial. Whether it be made publicly or privately, let this become a favorite novena, made with some of the affection these martyrs have for us. Saint was the name for all followers of Christ long before they were named Christians or Catholics. It means holy, set apart, and consecrated to be and to do something for God out of the ordinary, something sublime, heroic. The Saints honored in this novena were all men apart, extraordinary, noble, heroic, sub- lime. In life they were esteemed as holy. Long before the Church solemnly declared them saints, they were regarded as such, alike by Catholic and non-Catholic. They are Martyrs, which means "witnesses unto blood,” for they sealed with their blood their faith in Christ, and their supreme love for Him. When distinguished Servants of God are declared Saints, a day is set apart for their special veneration, their Feast Day. For these Martyrs it is 26 September, celebrated in every church in the United States and Canada, and in Jesuit churches throughout the world. They should be honored without ceasing throughout the year. The gospel in the Mass for their Feast repeats the beatitudes as given by St. Luke: in this novena they are taken from the VI Chapter of St. Matthew. NOVENA 3 Beatitude means blessing, joy. Blessed was the first word uttered by Our Lord in public in His Sermon on the Mount. His beatitudes are for here and hereafter. It is usual to speak of eight beatitudes, but there are really nine. Every one of them seems the very opposite of what people generally consider blessing or joy. The Martyrs knew their true meaning by experience. Each lived in a manner to entitle him to every beati- tude, but each also exemplified one in a special manner. For the eight Martyr Saints there are eight Beati- tudes. For their saintly companions, many of them Martyrs, there is the ninth. Saints Rene Goupil John Lalande Isaac Jogues Noel Chabanel Anthony Daniel Charles Gamier Gabriel Lalemant John de Brebeuf Their Saintly Companions Beatitudes Poor in spirit Meek Peacemaker Mourner Merciful Clean of heart Hungering for justice Suffering persecution Reviled and persecuted Ninth Beatitude Blessed are ye when they shall revile you and perse- cute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: be glad and rejoice; your reward is very great in heaven (Matthew v, 11). 4 NOVENA — I DAY I DAY— SAINT RENE GOUPIL Bom Angers, France, 15 May, 1608; martyred. Martyrs Hill, 29 September, 1642. Blessed the poor in spirit: theirs the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit merit all the other blessings. They are meek, mourning, peace-loving, merciful, clean of heart, hungering for justice and ever ready to suffer persecution. The poor in spirit look to the hand of God for all good things, life, health, liberty, food, raiment, friend- ship. For any of these they are grateful; at their loss they do not rebel. Their one thought is: “The Lord hath given; the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord." They bless Him; He blesses them a hundredfold. St. Rene (meaning reborn in grace) was poor in spirit. When ill-health forced him to leave his re- ligious Order, he did not complain. When he acquired some knowledge of medicine he gave it back to God by serving the missionaries whose Order illness had forced him to leave. When deprived of liberty, he did not rebel. When treated as outcast, slave, and victim, he took all as from the hand of God. “The Lord hath given; the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord." That Holy Name he sought to bless by teaching it in the Sign of the Cross ; the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, even though he knew it meant his death. Poor in spirit, his life-blood belonged to God. How rich his reward now, Blessed in the Kingdom of heaven with the Lord of gifts and with His angels SAINT RENE GOUPIL S’ and saints! Blessed on earth on our altars ; Blessed and blessing that ravine below Martyrs Hill, hallowed by his precious remains which his companion, St. Isaac Jogues, so prized as to seek and hnd and bury them, at the risk of his life; blessing also all who go there to honor his memory. Through the Martyrs A good Sister arrives at Martyrs Hill from her con- vent in Buffalo, after several serious operations unable to walk. She spends the days of a novena at the Shrine. Into water from the well she drops grains of soil from the Ravine. She leaves for home apparently as she had arrived. Next morning she astonishes her com- munity by walking down-stairs to the chapel. That was over twenty years ago and she is still alive and active. "Still here, father; ill recently. Father Jogues did not go back on me” (27 Oct., ’36). Prayer to be Poor in Spirit Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen, Ask for Special Favor Qenerous Martyr of Jesus pray for us {for benedictton of the blessed sacrament, see so, 81 ,} 6 NOVENA—II DAY II DAY— SAINT JOHN LALANDE Born Dieppe, France; martyred, Martyrs Hill, 19 October, 1646 Blessed the meek: they shall possess the land. The meek, too, merit all the other blessings. They are poor in spirit, peace-loving, mourning, merciful, clean of heart, hungering for justice, and for it bear persecution. St. John Lalande was above all things meek. He was a trapper of heroic sort. For this was he chosen as companion for St. Isaac Jogues on his last perilous journey to the Mohawks. He knew Jogues’ prophecy: “I shall go, but shall not return.” With Jogues and like him, he would bear every peril of the journey, every affront and torment of his Mohawk captors. Let diabolical powers rage against him: faithful to Jogues, he would bear all meekly. He was scarcely twenty years old. That meek was Lalande, he effaced himself, kept out of the picture so successfully that he escaped the atten- tion of those who were working for the canonization of his fellow martyrs until Rome directed that he should be added to their number. As trapper, this Saint knew every turn and twist of land, hills, lakes, rivers, woodlands, wild animals and the fiercer men. With the strength born of meekness, he possessed himself with courage against their cruel- ties even unto death. Little could he imagine that in these vast regions of North America he would come to possess the attention and veneration of all who dwell therein, become the patron of all true woodsmen, the SAINT JOHN LALANDE 7 model for boy scouts, the medium of increasing the har- vest of faith, devotion and true religion over the soil made his by the effusion of his blood and the waters hallowed by his precious remains. The meek shall possess the land. Through the Martyrs It is Sunday afternoon on Martyrs Hill. The priests in charge are preparing for the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. A four-year-old boy who had never walked is carried in his mother’s arms near the priest bearing the Monstrance. She and his father are told to invoke the Martyrs. The next morning he is met walk- ing about on the street by one of the assistant priests of St. Mary’s, Amsterdam; his crutches are on the Hill. Prayer for Meekness Nourished with peace-giving delights and sacraments of salvation, we suppliantly beseech thee, O Lord our God, that Thou, Who art meek and humble of heart, wouldst make us, cleansed from the stain of every vice, more steadfastly abhor the proud vanities of the world. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen. Former Mass of the Sacred Heart. Ask for Special Favor Qenerous Martyr of Jesus Christ, pray for us NOVENA— III DAY III DAY— SAINT ISAAC JOGUES Born Orleans, France, 10 January, 1607; martyred, Martyrs Hill, 18 October, 1646. Blessed the peacemakers: theirs the kingdom of heaven. Well named was this Martyr: Isaac, in Holy Writ, was a man of peace and a victim ; so was Jogues. For many achievements was St. Isaac Jogues renowned: to every blessing pronounced by Christ was he entitled, poor in spirit, meek, mourner, merciful, clean of heart, craving for justice, suffering persecution. The crown of all was his distinction of being chosen out of all the other missionaries similarly blessed to make peace with implacable enemies who a few years before had in- flicted on him incredible tortures for a month and held him a year in degrading captivity. Long before the Saint came to this New World he yearned to become peacemaker, mediator, between God and men, especially those who knew not God, to make them at peace with their Creator. His peculiar gift for doing this was quickly perceived by his fellow Jesuits, his religious superiors, and gradually by the civil authorities. No sooner had he arrived in Quebec than he was sent to the difficult Huron tribes, whose good-will he won so cordially that they adopted him as one of them with the name Ondessonk, Ever Bright Light,” beacon on the way to peace. Then came his capture, unspeakable torments and long captivity. Even when from all these the kindly Dutch of Fort Orange (now Albany) wished to de- liver him, he would not consent for fear of causing hostilities between them and his Indian masters. He SAINT ISAAC JOGUES 9 won the esteem and hospitality of the Dutch Governor of New ' Amsterdam (New York) where all was then hostile to his religion. Sent back to France, he was ill at ease be- cause treated as a hero, until permitted to return to his Indians. On the return voyage he calmed the mutinous crew. Then came his appointment to make peace with his fierce Iroquois torturers, in their Mohawk castle at Ossernenon (now Martyrs Hill). Sublimely he ac- cepted, "at the peril of one thousand lives.” This was in May, 1646. He sailed over Lake George on the eve of the Feast of Corpus Christi, and named it Holy Sacrament, recalling, no doubt, the prayer of the priest about to partake of the Holy Sacrament of Peace: "Aiy peace I give you: My peace I leave you.” Soon the Empire State will erect his monument on its shores. Well did he succeed on his peace errand, so much so that after his return to Canada it was decided he should come back and establish a Mission. He was back in October with St. John Lalande and a trusty Huron. Before they could begin their work, knavish Indians tomahawked all three, impaled their heads on the fence-posts around the village and threw their bodies into the Mohawk River, so that we have no relics of them except the soil bedewed with their blood. Through the Martyrs One signal favor the Fathers at Martyrs Hill in its early days will never forget is the cure of tuberculosis in a young man who came under hardship from a great 10 NOVENA— III DAY distance. He spoke little, but prayed much. Every year he kept his vow to return. Soon he came with his bride. Then, after sixteen years of pilgrimages, he came with his handsome son. Faith can move moun- tains. Prayer for Peace O God, from Whom are holy desires, right counsels, and just works, give us, Thy servants, that peace which the world cannot give: so that with our hearts dedi- cated to Thy commandments, and, the fear of enemies removed, the times may be, by Thy protection, peace- able. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen. Votive Mass for Peace. Prayer for the Fruits of the Martyrdoms O God, Who, by the preaching and blood of Thy blessed Martyrs, Isaac and John and their Companions, didst consecrate the first fruits of the Faith in the vast regions of North America, graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishing harvest of Christians may everywhere and always be increased, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in union with the Holy Spirit, one God world without end. Amen. Mass, Feast of the Martyrs. Ask for Special Favor Qenerous Martyr of Jesus C^ri§f, pray for us SAINT NOEL CHABANEL 11 IV DAY— SAINT NOEL CHABANEL Born Mende, France, 2 February, 1613; martyred near Ste. Marie, Canada, 8 December, 1649. Blessed who mourn: they shall be comforted. All know what mourning is: not all know what true comfort is. Everyone born into this world has frequent reason to mourn illness, failure, ingratitude, loss of relatives and friends, dread of death, afflictions of every sort. Some know what absolute and apparently hopeless failure is. Too many seek to escape it, even by self-inflicted death. A far greater number fall into despair and lose all energy of body and soul. They seek comfort for the body, but what comfort means for the soul they do not know. Comfort for the true mourner means strength of mind and courage to stand most unbearable conditions of every sort. St. Noel Chabanel felt from the start that he was unfitted for Indian missionary life. He could not bear the rude habits of the Indian, could not acquire their language, stomach their food, stand the smoke, vermin and stench of their cabins. It was slow but continuous martyrdom. What will he do ? Will he give up and ask to be recalled to France? No, he will seek strength, true comfort from heaven. To obtain it he made a vow to put up with everything, no matter how repugnant or how nauseous it might be. ”Jesus Christ, my Saviour, Who by a wonderful dis- pensation of Your paternal providence hast willed that I, though altogether unworthy, should be a co- adjutor of the Holy Apostles in this vineyard of the Hurons; impelled by the desire of ministering to the purpose which Your holy spirit hath respecting me. 12 NOVENA TV DAY that I should help forward the conversion to the faith of the barbarians of this Huron coun- try: I, Noel Chabanel, being in the presence of the most holy Sacrament of Your Body and Your Precious Blood, which is the tabernacle of God among men— make a vow of perpetual stability in this Mission of the Hurons; understanding all things as the superiors of the Society expound them, and as they choose to dispose of me. I conjure You, there- fore, O my Saviour, to be pleased to receive me as a perpetual servant of this Mission, and to make me worthy of so lofty a ministry. Amen.” That vow and its heroic observance won for Chabanel in this life strength to endure every hardship, and on the day of the canonization of the Martyrs the distinc- tion of a glorious portrait separate from that of his Companions. Through the Martyrs Mrs. H., Parliament St., Toronto, had five opera- tions. Sixth was declared necessary, but she refused and said she would go to the Midland Shrine, near Fort Ste. Marie. Doctors of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, told her it was folly, as she would have hem- orrhage and die on the way. After Confession, Com- munion and blessing with relics, the wound healed, all pain disappeared, and a large lump on her side disap- peared at once ( testified to by doctor ) . SAINT NOEL CHABANEL 13 Prayer for Comfort O God, the consoler of the afflicted, and the salva- tion of those who hope in Thee, Who mercifully didst accept the pious tears of the blessed Monica for the conversion of her son, grant us by the intercession of both to deplore our sins and to obtain the grace of Thy pardon. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen. Mass, Feast of St. Monica. 'T was very near the throne of the Holy Father the day our North-American Martyrs were beatified, June 21 , 1925. He bade Father James Dugas, S.J., of Montreal, to do all in his power to obtain the two miracles needed for their canonization. Never was mandate more zealously observed. By the application of the relics of the Martyrs and especially by novenas this good priest helped to obtain many remarkable cures— many apparently miraculous. Two of these are recorded under the eighth and ninth days of this novena. Some of the others, many attested by physi- cians as hopeless or incurable, are: cure from goitre that was threatening suffocation; an eczema of twelve years’ duration ; restoration of eyesight ; cure of muscu- lar atrophy; infantile paralysis; tuberculosis. In one parish alone there were fifteen remarkable cures and at least seven in each of three convents.”—JJ.w. Ask for Special Favor Qenerom Martyr of Jesus ChrtU, pray for us 14 NOVENA— V DAY V DAY— SAINT GABRIEL LALEMANT Born, Paris, 10 October, 1610; martyred, Fort Ste. Marie, Canada, 17 March, 1649 Blessed who hunger for justice: they shall be filled. Lalemant bore the name of God’s messenger who announced to the Virgin Mary that she was to be Mother of Christ Our Lord. He begged for fourteen years to be sent from Old to New France to announce the Son of God to His creatures still living in dark- ness. Born in Paris, 1610, when making his vows as a Jesuit in 1632, he added a special one, to give his life to the Indians of the New World. At last he was allowed to fulfil his vow in 1646. His hunger for the justice he considered paramount was partly satisfied. Within three years he was seized by the Iroquois during one of their invasions of the Hurons, and tor- tured in an unspeakable manner. The delicate Lalemant and the giant Brebeuf were fellow martyrs. While the giant was a marvel of en- durance, Lalemant kept his eyes raised toward heaven imploring for perseverance. Quickly those prayerful eyes were gouged out by his torturers and hot cinders put in their stead. Imploring, he looked to his giant fellow martyr to sustain his courage and constancy. Brebeuf, for all his strength, gave out before that March I6th was over, and Lalemant lasted until the following morning of the Feast of the great Irish Apostle in 1649. His quest of justice was fulfilled. The blessings obtained through the intercession of the North-American Martyrs are not confined to any SAINT GABRIEL LALEMANT IS one place or even to the coun- tries in which they labored, suffered and died. That was a strange case of Sarah Sawkins, an orphan girl in England, who at the age of twelve was afflicted with anchylosis of the left knee. The doctor pro- nounced it incurable and proposed to amputate the leg. The heart was too weak to stand the shock. Just then a priest nearby had received relics of the Martyrs without their authentication. He proposed using the relics in this case, believing a cure effected by their use would prove them authentic. The cure was effected ; the girl attained health she had never known. Through the Martyrs ”On June 17th while on a motor trip, I stopped at Auriesville Shrine, to pray for a very sick brother who was abed for six months and had not been to church for 25 years and would not see a priest . . . My brother has asked for a priest and made his peace with God.” Prayer for Justice Let us pray: Grant, we beseech Thee, O almighty God, that we who proclaim the glorious Martyrs so brave in their ordeal, may feel the benefit of their pious intercession in our behalf. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen. Mass of the Forty Martyrs. Ask for Special Favor Qenerous