October 19
The Feast of the North American Martyrs commemorates the death of eight priests who
were killed by the Iroquois, mortal enemies of the Huron Indians, with whom the priests
had been working for 34 years.
There was a great deal of missionary activity being carried out in what is now Canada
and
upstate New York during the 1600s, and many of the devoted missionaries who worked
among the Indians in the area extending from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes met with
torture and often cruel death.
The eight who are remembered on this day are St. Rene Goupil (1608-1642), St. Isaac
Jogues (1607-1646), St. John Lalonde (d. 1646), and their companions, French Jesuits
who died in 1649.
They were canonized together in 1930, and a shrine built for them at Auriesville, New
York, holds a novena (a traditional Roman Catholic ritual of prayer lasting nine days)
each year over nine days including October 19.
Full story:
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Feast+of+the+Martyrs+of+North+America
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