Brebeuf's Ideal Realized A. D. 1639
Hostility to missionaries—Imported prejudices—Dream and transport—Baptism of first adult in health—Council decides on death of missionaries—A marvellous document—A new Mission— An Indian census—Conversions begin
The plague was so persistent, the chiefs convoked a council at Ossossane to deliberate on measures for eradicating it. Brebeuf and Jogues were present. Brebeuf began with prayer, distributed tobacco for the calumets, and backed with presents his proposal that the Indians give up superstitious practices, implore God's mercy and adopt the Faith. The immediate thing to do was to erect a chapel. They all seemed to agree. They held their banquet, but their resolution was by no means stable. At Ihonatiria the missionaries had to face a new outbreak of suspicion and prejudice. The hostility to the Jesuits, especially in the Lutheran countries of Europe, followed them into Huronia through the Dutch settlement at Rensselaerswyck, now Albany. The burghers did not mean to incite the Hurons to molest their missionaries. This they proved later by their persistent efforts to obtain the release of Jogues from his Mohawk captors, and their pride in aiding his escape. They meant to warn them against accepting what they preached, giving as a reason that these men had brought on a blight in every country that tolerated them. Some of the Indians, who disliked the opposition of the missionaries to their superstitions, interpreted this to mean that the Jesuits had been the cause of their misfortunes. Everything they had and everything they did became suspect, their crucifix, their Breviary, clock, magnetic needle, the Sign of the Cross, kneeling to pray, writing a letter. Sorcerers themselves, the Indians adjudged everyone else the same. The situation became so trying that Jerome Lalemant wrote in the "Relation" for 1639:
"... I begin to doubt whether any other martyrdom is requisite for the end for which we labor; and I have not the least doubt that many would be found who would rather feel at once the keen edge of a hatchet on their head, than endure for years a life such as we have to live here every day."(60)
Dreams go by contraries. With all this agitation against them the missionaries maintained their usual calmness. Jogues' mind apparently was not disturbed by it.
Endeavoring to overcome sleep one afternoon when in the chapel, he gave way for a moment, and dreamed that he was singing Vespers. The verse, "Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer", of the Fifth Psalm was sung, and then as he tells us:
"When the verse was ended, I seemed to be no longer in our cabin, but in a place I knew not, when all at once I heard verses sung (I forget which) which had reference to the happiness of the Saints, and the delights they enjoy in the kingdom of heaven. The chanting was so beautiful, and the melody of voices and instruments so harmonious, that I have no recollection of ever having heard the like, and it even seems to me that the most perfect concerts are nothing compared to it. To compare such harmony with that of earth would be insulting.
"Meanwhile this most admirable concert of the angels excited in my heart a love of God so great, so ardent, so burning, that, unable to bear such an overflowing of sweetness, my poor heart seemed to melt and dilate under this inexplicable wealth of Divine love. I experienced this feeling especially as they sang the verse I so well remember, 'We will go into His tabernacle, we will adore in the place where His feet stood'.(61)
This lasted but a moment. It suggests strongly that his thoughts and aspirations were so far above mundane things that neither persecution nor actual torture could affect him even when dreaming.
Life at Ihonatiria became impossible for the missionaries. Their work was hampered. The people were decimated by the epidemic. They were urged to settle in Ossossane (near Point Varwood on Nottawasaga Bay), arid also at Teanaustaye, inland (near Hillsdale, in Medonte township), known as St. Joseph II. A chapel was built for them at the former place, eighty feet in length, with real boards and doors, and it was soon the scene of the baptism of Tsiouendaentaha, the first adult in good health admitted to baptism in that mission, after three years' labor of an average of five men! There was humor as well as fitness in the name given him, Peter, since he was to be the corner-stone of Christianity in that remote region. The ceremony was solemn. The Indians, who loved ceremonial, flocked to it. The enemies of the missionaries made it an occasion of renewed hostility. The Fathers were unmoved. Brebeuf had the sachems call an assembly, appeared before it, and convinced them, apparently at least, that they were wrong in attributing sorcery to the priests. With quiet restored for a time, the work of the mission prospered.
Like all untutored minds, the Indian's was one of fixed ideas. Once seized with a belief, right or wrong, it was useless to argue with him. Early in August another council was called, ostensibly to consider tribal affairs, but in reality to determine the fate of the Jesuits. Twenty-eight villages were represented. Brebeuf was present. The first day was given to indifferent matters; on the second the session was in the evening, lasting until midnight. It was plain to Brebeuf that he and his companions were doomed. He was on trial. They abused and accused him. He defended himself fearlessly. Their decision was deferred until the return of their tribesmen from Quebec. An attempt was made to burn the mission cabin; the young men of the tribe harassed the Fathers where-ever they met them. On October 4th, they were summoned to meet the elders of the tribe and informed that they should die. Brebeuf went about among the captains to obtain a stay of proceedings, but to no purpose. It was at this juncture he indited a statement as heroic as any contained in the Acts of the Martyrs. Everyone at the mission signed it. Those who were absent made known their assent.
"My Reverend Father, The Peace of Christ.
"We are, perhaps, upon the point of shedding our blood and of sacrificing our lives to the service of our good Master, Jesus Christ. It seems that His goodness consents to accept this sacrifice from me for the expiation of my great and innumerable sins, and to crown from this time on, the past services and the great and ardent desires of all our Fathers who are here.
"What makes me think that this will not happen is, on the one hand, the excess of my past wickedness, which renders me utterly unworthy of so signal a favor; and, on the other, that I do not believe His goodness will permit His workmen to be put to death, since through His grace there are still some good souls who eagerly receive the seed of the Gospel, notwithstanding the evil speech and persecutions of all men against us. And yet I fear that Divine justice, seeing the obstinacy of the majority of these barbarians in their follies, may very justly permit them to come and take away the life of the body from those who with all their hearts desire and procure the life of their souls.
"Be this as it may, I will tell you that all our Fathers await the outcome of this affair with great calmness and contentment of mind. And, for myself, I can say to your reverence with all sincerity that I have not yet had the least apprehension of death for such a cause. But we are all sorry for this—that these poor barbarians, through their own malice, are closing the door to the Gospel and to grace. Whatever conclusion they reach, and whatever treatment they give us, we will try, by the grace of Our Lord, to endure it patiently for His service. It is a singular favor that His goodness extends to us, to make us endure something for His sake. It is now that we consider ourselves truly to belong to His Society. May He be forever blessed for having appointed us to this country, among many others better than we, to aid Him in bearing His Cross. In all things, may His holy will be done! If He will that at this hour we should die, oh, fortunate hour for us! If He will to reserve us for other labors, may He be blessed! If you hear that God has crowned our insignificant labors, or rather our desires, bless Him; for it is for Him that we desire to live and to die, and it is He who gives us grace therefor. For the rest, if any survive, I have given orders as to all they are to do. I have deemed it advisable for our Fathers and our domestics to withdraw to the houses of those whom they regard as their best friends; I have charged them to carry to the house of Pierre, our first Christian, all that belongs to the sacristy,— above all, to be especially careful to put our dictionary, and all that we have of the language, in a place of safety. As for myself, if God grant me the grace to go to heaven, I will pray Him for them, for the poor Hurons, and I will not forget your reverence.
"And finally, we supplicate your reverence and all our Fathers not to forget us in your holy Sacrifices and prayers, to the end that, in life after death, He may grant us mercy. We are all, in life and in eternity,
Your Reverence's Very humble and very affectionate servants in Our Lord,
Francois Joseph le Mercier.
Pierre Chastellain.
Charles Garnier.
Paul Ragueneau.
In the Residence of la Conception at Ossossane, this 28th of October.
"I have left Fathers Pierre Pijart and Isaac Jogues in the Residence of Saint Joseph, with the same sentiments."(62)
The Dictionary was the one precious possession of the missionaries. In it was the fruit of years of labor of many men. In it too was hope for the future, as it would facilitate the work of those who would still come to preach Christ to this people. After that Brebeuf does the redoubtable thing which meant in Indian custom that all was ready for the execution. He invited them to his farewell feast, his Atsataion, the banquet they themselves gave when they were near death. They filled the cabin. He harangued them not about himself but about life after death. They departed gloomy and irresolute. The missionaries were left in peace. Brebeuf was adopted by the tribe and made a captain. Occasional attacks were made on some of the missionaries, on du Peron, Le Mercier, Chaumont and Ragueneau, but they were the frenzy of individuals, not of the tribe nor of its leaders.
In 1638, Mass was said in the cabin of Stephen Totiri at Teanaustaye, and there a new mission was established, with Brebeuf in charge. Jogues was at that post. Stephen was to be later his companion in captivity. The report for the first year of that mission alone mentioned baptisms of forty-eight children and seventy-two adults. Soon there were nine missionaries in the two villages, among them Le Moyne, who was to be the apostle of the Onondagas and follow Jogues in his work among the Mohawks. A census was taken. It was not a difficult matter. An Indian village was a collection of cabins, not all as well constructed as that of the missionaries, but somewhat like it. These stood in rows more or less regular, and they were as a rule surrounded by a fence or palisade for protection against assault by an enemy. There were thirty-two villages and about twelve thousand inhabitants. Twenty years before they were forty thousand, but war, famine and epidemics had reduced their number. The baptism of Peter had been followed by other conversions. Le Mercier reports for the year 1638 more than one hundred baptisms of adults and children, fifty-six of whom were living when he wrote. Among these was Joseph Chihwatenhwa of Ossossane, a man of great natural goodness, who after baptism practised virtue to an extraordinary degree. If the harvest was slow in ripening, the yield was not disappointing. Le Jeune gives this account of Joseph's solid Christianity:
"... I will content myself with saying what cannot often enough be said:
- That he has an extreme horror of sin, hardly ever speaking to us that he does not propose some question of conscience, his being very sensitive.
- That he preaches Jesus Christ boldly and on all occasions, both by example and by words; he made this conspicuous in the councils which I have mentioned above. He is especially admirable in the continual instruction of those in his cabin, inculcating on them at every opportunity the holy commandments of God.
- That he has special communication with God, begging Him every day, with tears in his eyes, that it may please Him to look with pity upon his poor country,—so that it is one of our greatest consolations to be near him when he is offering his prayers, above all, his thanksgiving after the Communion.
- Before and after the instructions that are given him, it is a pleasure to see him on his knees asking grace of the Divine Spirit; even going so far as to force himself to learn to write, this winter, that he may remember and repeat what was said to him; but, above all, to indicate more clearly, he said, the number of his sins.
- He makes habitual an incredible purity of conscience, often throwing himself at our feet to confess, exhibiting scruples at the least thing.
- He will sometimes continue in prayer for three-quarters of an hour, all the time on his knees, which is a very difficult position for a savage.
- Finally, it is wonderful how much strength God gives him to combat at every turn the great difficulties that the Devil continues to raise for him through the people of his nation,—some by inviting him to their infamous and superstitious feasts, others by openly ridiculing him. He said to us one day with his usual simplicity, 'Yes, my brothers, I am so determined to maintain even unto death the fidelity I have vowed to my God, that if any one wished to make me return to my former follies, he should sooner take away my life.' In short, his devotion may be summarized as a holy tenderness of heart that God gives him, for the great and loving respect that he shows to the holy Sacrament, for the honor he renders to his guardian angel and his great Patron, and for commending to the holy Virgin his country and the souls of the faithful departed."(63)
Such were the rewards of the missionaries, who would toil for months to win one soul. The souls they won were often not the lost sheep they had gone out to seek, but others who came in their way haphazard, like this one, for instance.
"On our way to a place, we go astray unawares, and find ourselves involved in routes that we were not seeking. We meet two little children who are dying,—prostrate near their mother, who is all in tears; they both receive baptism, and then take flight to heaven. Was it not God who guided us?
"On the eve of All Saints, I am constrained to run alone into two or three cabins, in the midst of a dense forest, where the disease was ruining them. I set foot in a poor little house where I had never entered; I find a young lad in very great danger of dying. I instruct him, and prepare him for holy baptism; his father opposes it, and will not allow me this, unless at the same time I baptize another, who is still in the cradle. I object to that, this smaller one being nowise sick; the father, on his side, also persists in his refusal, telling me that he wished that, if his two children died, they should go in company, either to heaven or to hell. I am constrained to grant him what he desires, in order not to lose a soul; I then baptize them both. After eight days I return; I find them no longer alive; I am driven from the cabin, and they will hear no further mention of God. Thus it is that Our Lord uses even reprobates in order to possess His elect. "I pass near a cabin where three little children are dying; I am called, as if I were a great physician, to declare how much life was left to them. On going in, I plainly see that they still had enough left to make them live forever in heaven; while feeling their pulses, I take my opportunity secretly, and baptize them; they were awaiting nothing but that in order to die to all their miseries. In a word, we are transacting the affairs of God here: is it a wonder that He takes part in them?"(64)