May 28 Bernard of Montjoux

Patron Saint of Mountaineers

Saint Bernard was an Italian priest and arch deacon who worked as a missionary in the Alps in the 900s. He set up hostels for those traveling the rough the rough terrain and worked to convert and minister to the needs of those working as robbers along the trade routes. The large dogs, trained to search for lost victims in the mountains, are named for the Saint. And now you know, the rest of the story.

April 17 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Patron Saint of Environmentalists

Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by the Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. She was orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight, she was raised by her uncle, an Mohawk chief. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary.

She was shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Unable to understand her new found religion zeal, members of the tribe often chastised her, which she took as a testament to her faith. Kateri exercised physical mortification as a route to sanctity. She occasionally put thorns upon her sleeping mat and lay on them, while praying for the conversion and forgiveness of her kinsmen. Piercing the body to draw blood was a traditional practice of the Hurons, Iroquois, as well as the Mohawks. Kateri believed that offering her blood was in imitation of Christ’s crucifixion. She changed this practice to stepping on burning coals when her close friend and confessor, Marie Therese, expressed her disapproval.

Because she was persecuted by her Native American kin, which included threats to her life, she fled through 200 miles of wilderness to the established community of Native American Christians in Kahnawake, Quebec. She took a vow of chastity in 1679. On April 17, 1680, Kateri died at the age of 24.

Known for spirituality and austere lifestyle. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. First Native American proposed for canonization, her cause was started in 1884. An international association of Native American Catholics and those in ministry with them, was named for her.

March 16 Martyrs of North America

This is a group of Jesuits, who were martyred over several years in the Quebec area of Canada in the 1600s. The Jesuits were able to slowly make friends with the Huron nation, but both Hurons and the Jesuits were beaten by the Iroquois. The martyrs include

• Antoine Daniel
• Charles Garnier
• Gabriel Lalemant
• Isaac Jogues
• Jean de Brebeuf
• Jean de la Lande
• Noel Chabanel
• Rene Goupil

Jean De Brebeuf was perhaps the most dynamic of the group. A sickly child and teen, the Jesuits questioned if his health would survive the rigors of formation and service. With trepidation, they accepted St. Jean as a novice. Although he was able to take his final vows, he remained weak and sickly. For whatever insane reasoning, he was sent to the dangerous and demanding missionary in Quebec. This placement turned out to be a God send.

St. Jean flourished in the Canadian wilderness. Although it would be twenty plus year before he began to make large scale conversions amongst the Huron nation, he found frontier life to be invigorating and full of joy. Rather than force conversions, he spent the twenty years learning about the Huron nation, its people and language. He became known by his nickname “Echon“, which meant load bearer, and his massive size made them think twice about sharing a canoe with him for fear it would sink. Despite speaking multiple languages and having a quick mind, he struggled for years with the language. Writing to a fellow Jesuit who would be joining his mission he claimed that no matter your intellectual superiority in France, “The Huron language will be your Aristla crosse.”. He eventually wrote the first Huron-French dictionary. It is also claimed that St. Jean had a hand in naming the sport of lacrosse, since the stick resembled a bishop’s crook.

Saint Jean was martyred in 1649, tortured to death by the Iroquois. By 1650 the Huron nation was exterminated, and the laboriously built mission was abandoned. But it proved to be “one of the triumphant failures that are commonplace in the Church‘s history.” These martyrdoms created a wave of vocations and missionary fervor in France, and it gave new heart to the missionaries in New France.”