St. Isaac Jogues is the first American saint—he was martyred with two other missionaries near the Mohawk river in New York state in 1646.

Isaac was born in 1607 in Orleans, France, to a middle-class family. He received a good education, and at the age of 17 entered the Jesuit community. As he continued his education in theology, he was influenced by superiors and teachers who had served as missionaries among the indigenous people of New France—what is now Canada.

Jogues was allowed to shorten his studies to pursue his interest in becoming a missionary himself. He was ordained a priest in January of 1636 and was immediately sent to New France to live among the Huron and Algonquian tribes. He landed at a settlement on the shores of Lake Huron that fall, but fell sick along with many from the tribe. The people of the village blamed the missionaries for the sickness and threatened to kill them, but the illness subsided before they acted.

After several years at that outpost, Jogues and several others made forays deeper into the wilderness to reach other native tribes. During one of these journeys in 1642, a group of Mohawk warriors captured Jogues, two other missionaries, and a number of Christian Hurons who were accompanying them. They brought the Christians to a village on the Mohawk river, about 40 miles west of present-day Albany, New York. There they tortured and beat the missionaries, and did worse to the Hurons. Jogues had his two index fingers severed, but survived.

Jogues was kept as a slave for some time until some Dutch traders found him and purchased his freedom. He made his way back to France where he visited his family, but his heart was still with the native people of New France. Within a few months, he was traveling back to resume missionary work there.

After a treaty brought peace with the Mohawks, Jogues went to live with them, but they were suspicious of the missionaries. When another epidemic broke out, the Mohawks blamed the newcomers—they killed Jogues and attacked his two companions on the next day.

Jogues and his companions were canonized in 1930 as the North American Martyrs—they included the two who died with him and four others who were killed during that general time. In Canada, their feast day falls on Sept. 26, and in America they are honored on Oct. 19.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born about ten years after Jogues died, in the same village where he gave his life for the faith.

St. Isaac Jogues and companions, as martyrs you planted the seeds of faith in North America—pray for us!

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Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Isaac Jogues is used with permission from Catholic Online. Last accessed October 4, 2024.