Saint Jean de Brébeuf

Jean de Brébeuf SJ (25 March 1593 – 16 March 1649) was a French Jesuit missionary who travelled to New France (Canada) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron for the rest of his life, except for a few years in France from 1629 to 1633. He learned their language and customs, writing extensively about each to aid other missionaries. In 1649, Brébeuf and another missionary were captured when an Iroquois raid took over a Huron village (referred to in French as St. Louis). Together with Huron captives, the missionaries were ritually tortured and killed on 16 March 1649. Afterwards, his heart was eaten by Iroquois tribesmen. Brébeuf was beatified in 1925 and with eight Jesuit missionaries was canonized in the Catholic Church in 1930. Brébeuf was born 25 March 1593 in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy, France (He was the uncle of poet Georges de Brébeuf.). He joined the Society of Jesus in 1617 at the age of 24, spending the next two years under the direction of Lancelot Marin. Between 1619 and 1621, he was a teacher at the college of Rouen. Brébeuf was nearly expelled from the Society when he contracted tuberculosis in 1620—a severe and usually fatal illness that prevented his studying and teaching for the traditional periods. His record as a student was not particularly distinguished, but Brébeuf was already beginning to show an aptitude for languages. Later in New France, he would teach Native American languages to missionaries and French traders. Brébeuf was ordained as a priest at Pontoise Cathedral in February 1622. After three years as Steward at the College of Rouen, Brébeuf was chosen by the Provincial of France, Father Pierre Coton, to embark on the missions to New France. In June 1625, Brébeuf arrived in Québec with Fathers Charles Lalemant and Énemond Massé, together with the lay brothers François Charton and Gilbert Burel. He worked at the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons.