Today Canadian Catholics celebrated the Feast of the Canadian Martyrs, six priests and two laymen, all Jesuits: Jean de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Antoine Daniel, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, René Goupil, Jean de la Lalande, Isaac Jogues. While the Catholic Church universally celebrates this feast on October 19, the Canadian Bishops decided to celebrate the feast on September 26, mainly because the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland is closed as from early October due to the cold Canadian weather. The Martyrs' Shrine is a historic site of pilgrimage which includes the famous Shrine Church, the Martyrs’ Hall and Education Centre, and 75 landscaped acres conducive to prayer and contemplation. Within the Church are the relics of St. Jean de Brébeuf, St. Gabriel Lalemant, and St. Charles Garnier.
The Feast of the Canadian Martyrs takes place just four days before September 30th, Orange Shirt Day since 2013, and since 2021, National Truth and Reconciliation Day: a Canadian day of memorial to recognize the atrocities and traumatic generational impact caused by the Canadian Indian Residential School system. The irony of the juxtaposition of these two days, just four days apart, is deeply poignant. The movie, "The Mission," comes to mind, where well intentioned and holy missionaries saw their work thwarted by the imperialistic and hegemonic actions of the Portuguese colonial power aided and abetted by the Doctrine of Discovery. The avaricious Portuguese king and his loyal subjects saw in the native Guarani people a cheap source of slaves.
In the Canadian case, however, the treachery and betrayal were worse. It was not Church vs State as in the movie. Regrettably, the Christian churches, especially the Catholic Church, eagerly stepped in to provide the human resources needed to run the Government mandated Indian Residential Schools. This presented as a much 'easier' way to gather converts to Christianity than the respectful, loving, compassionate way of the Cross demonstrated by St. Jean de Brébeuf and his Jesuit companions.
It would be very easy to be lulled into a romantic and pietistic spirituality that just looks at the faith and fortitude of the Canadian martyrs and their interior life, but goes no further. But that would be a betrayal of all that they lived and died for. They loved the people to whom they preached Christ, and Him crucified. Not only the Hurons but also the Iroquois who killed them. Take Father Isaac Jogues. After several months of captivity and torture, he was ransomed by Dutch traders and the Dutch Calvinist minister Johannes Megapolensis from New Netherland (later Albany). He returned for a time to France, but then sailed back to Quebec. In 1646 he and Jean de Lalande were killed during a visit to Ossernenon where he had been held captive. They had hoped to achieve peace between the French and the Mohawk Nation.
If these holy men would see today the strained relationship that is so evident between the Church and the peoples of the First Nations to whom they gave their lives, they would weep inconsolably. They would rush to be in the vanguard of the Church's efforts at acknowledging and confessing the truth of our failures, understanding the full impact of what we have done as a Church, seeking ways to make amends and restitution and facilitate healing, repeatedly asking for pardon and forgiveness.
Let us move beyond romantic piety. Let us ask Our Lord to inspire us with the same Spirit with which God energised and moved St. Jean de Brébeuf and his Jesuit companions. Let us ask the Lord Jesus Christ to show us what He would have us do this coming National Truth and Reconciliation Day/Orange Shirt Day. Wearing an Orange Shirt might already be a good start. Do you know the origins of the Orange Shirt? Do you know who Phyllis Webstad is?
