The Canadian Martyrs

Today we celebrate the memorial of the Canadian Martyrs: six priests, one brother and one layman who lost their lives teaching the gospel to the Indian tribes around the Great Lakes. Their mission started in 1639, and stretched about a thousand miles beyond Western settlement. Their mission to the Hurons was particularly successful, but the Iroqouis came up from the south, capturing, torturing and killing the missionaries. As an aside, St. Jean de Brebeuf wrote the Huron Carol, a lovely Canadian Christmas hymn. Bruce Cockburn sings it in the Huron in which it was written on his Christmas album.