TERCENTENARY OF CANADA

New Zealand Tablet, 23 July 1908, Page 10

TERCENTENARY OF CANADA

THE FIRST CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES '

On to-morrow (Friday) will, commence the celebrations* ir. connection with the -tercentenary of Canada, These celebrations will extend over a week, and will be on a very extensive scale. The Prince of Wales, who left last week for the Dominion, is taking with him a sum of Great Britain's subscription towards the memorial to be erected and set apart in honor of Generals Wolfe and - Montcalm. In view^of the great interest taken in the event, the following account of the prominent part played in the exploration of Canada and in winning to 'the? Faith the fierce natives by the. Catholic missionaries, contributed -to the Sydney 'Freeman's Journal,' is particularly appropriate at the present time : — Canada is at present a British possession, but she formerly belonged to France. France took possession of Quebec in the year 1608, and from that "date up to the year 1763 she ruled a vast region, extending eastward to. Nova Scotia, westward to Lake Superior, and down the Mississippi to Florida and Louisiana. The celebrations in honor of the tercentenary of the foundation of Quebec by Champlain are to be marked by the nationalisation, of the Canadian battlefields, and the Commission appointed for that purpose includes Mr. Adelard Turgeon, C.M.G,, Quebec Minister of Lands, and Mr. Garneau, Mayor of Quebec. Battle* ships from Great Britain, France, and the United States will anchor side by side on the St. Lawrence, and there will meet on the Plains. of Abraham representatives of the regiments — French", Irish, and English— who fought each other under- Wolfe and Montcalm, and Murray and De Levis. Solemn High .Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated in the open air on the Plains; probably on Sunday, July .26. A religious procession through the streets of Quebec and the unveiling of a statue to Ve~n; Francois de Laval de Montmorency (its first Bishop), originally fixed for St. John the Baptist's Day, June 24, -will probably be postponed by the Hierarchy of the province in.- order : to syn> chronise with the tercentenary of Champlain. Bishop de Laval de Montmorency was the founder of the Grand Seminaire from which Laval University, foundSd by royal charter of Queen Victoria in 185 a, is directly descended. * ."•' The Bishop was declared ' Venerable ' in 1890, and "he will figure among the characters of the great pageant which is now being prepared according to strict historical researches on by experts in the new Public Record Office at Ottawa^-a repr©> sentation in which will be impersonated many of the soldiers; priests, and administrators who spread French- civilisation and French religion throughout a province where they v endure ~to*day; On conclusion of the pageant the Prince" of Wale's, as the King's representative, will hand to Sir Wilfrid Laurier the deed of gift of the two, battlefields, which overlap one another, the one associated with . the triumph of -..British arms, the-, rqther, with' the success of the French. Irish soldiers fought in -both- armies. - Of. French conquest in America Bancroft, the American historian, writes :— \lt was neither commercial - enterprise, nor royal ambition which carried the power of France into- the heart of our continent. The motive was religion.' And this Protestant historian adds : ' The only policy which inspired the French conquest in America was congenial to a Church .which cherishes every member of the human race, without regard to lineage or skin.* „

■ • . - The Jesuits' "Mission.By- the year 1636 fifteen "Fathers jof the Society of Jesus had 'entered Canada, and commenced that astonishing warfare celebrated with honest enthusiasm by American writers, of which the fruits "were long ago described by Father Bressany, who had -himself no mean' share-in producing '"them.- ' Whereas at Ihe date' of our arrival he says, wriiing' ; "with : the hand which "the savages had cruelly mutilated after tormenting him for a whole month, "we found not a single -soul possessing- a knowledge of the true God ; at the present day, in spite of persecution', want, famine, war, and pestilence, there is not a single .family which does not count some Christians, where all the members have not yet professed the- true faith. Such has been the work of twenty years.* ' A little later, asvis well known, the whole Huron nation was -Christian. 'It Was in June, 161 1,' -writes Marshall, "that Fathers Birat and Masse arrived in Canada, 'and it is a notable fact that the first Jesuit- slain in America, in 1613, fell by the hands not of savages, but of the English.' American Protestants have graphically described -the labors of. these first missionaries and of their .successors. A few examples of the language they employ can scarcely fail to prove interesting reading.- ' The "Catholic priest,' writes Washington Irving, ' went even before the soldiers and 'the trader. From lake to lake, from river, to river, the Jesuits pressed on, -unresting, and with a power which no other. Christians have exhibited, won to their faith the warlike Miamis and the luxurious Illinois. 1 4 The history of their labors,' says Bancroft, 'is connected with' the origin of every celebrated town in the annals of French America; not a cape was turned, not a river entered,- but .a Jesuit led the way.' It was a Jesuit, Father.- Allonez,- who made known Lake Superior, and Father Marquette who .discovered • the Mississippi- and the mouth of. the Missouri. Of this great missioner Bancroft declared- that the, people of the West would yet build his monument.. He died of fatigue in 1675, on the banks, of a stream known from that day to this as the ' Black Robe's River.' ' Father Marquette "s Fame. The venerable historian, Charlevoix, who travelled through the West in 1721, states that the French mariners never fail to invoke Father Marquette when they are in peril on Lake Michigan. Many have declared that the,y believed --themselves indebted to his intercession for having escaped very great dangers. ' Father Marquette,* writes Shea, ' was not a mere scholar, or man of science. If he sought new avenues for civilised man to tread the very heart of the continent, it was with him a wor.k of Christian love. It was to open the way for the Gospel, that the Cross might enlighten new and remote nations. No missionary of that, glorious band of Jesuits who in the seventeenth century announced the faith from Hudson's Bay to the Lower Mississippi, who hallowed by their labors and lifeblood so many a wild spot now occupied by the busy hives of men — none of them impresses us more in his whole life and career, with his piety, sanctity, and absolute-devotion to God, than Father Marquette.'- In 'The Woodstock • Letters ' for" December, "1907, under the heading ' Chicago : Father Marquette,' we read : 'An event of unusual interest to Catholics .will be the formal dedication, of .a mahogany cross erected to., the honor of the Jesuit Fathers, Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolfet, pioneer explorers of the Chicago River and Mississippi Valley, on the site where Fathers Marquette and Joliet first, stepped on Chicago soil,' and where the former spent the winter of ,1675. The Chicago Association of Commerce appointed a special committee to participate in the ceremonies, and the organisation also appropriated 460 dollars for the purpose. The cross; which is to be placed at Robey street, south of Blue Island avenue, on the bank of. the Chicago River, has been donated by Cameron L. Wiley. It "s mahogany, fourteen feet high, and is made of twelve-inch beams. Governor Deneen has promised to be present at the ceremony. ' , Among the Indians. , - : , , In 1641 a bark canoe left the -bay of Ponetangue'shene for the Sault Ste. Marie, at the invitation of the Chippewas, who had heard of the messengers of the Great Spirit. ' There at- the falls, after a navigation of seventeen days, they found* an assembly of two' thousand souls." Raymbault and Jogues travelled in- that canoe. The former perished by the rigor of the climate, the latter was destined to a more tragical fate. Returning by the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence to Quebec with.' the great warrior Ahasistari ' and a party of Christian "Hurons, ' he was attacked by a- band of Mohawks, and fell into their hands.. Ahasistari might have escaped, but seeing Father Jogues a captive he returned to him saying : 'My brother, I made oath to thee that 1

would share thy fortune- whether death or life, 1 am. here to keep my vow. 1 Ahasistari was burned alive. The noble barbarian accepted martyrdom with- exultation, -and sang' at the stake, not his own warlike deeds, but the praise -of Jesus and Mary. They allowed Father .Jogues, because of his infirmities, to wander about, and often he wrote- the name of Jesus in the bark of trees, .as if taking- possession of these countries in the name of God. His tdrmente were . long and horrible, but his martyrdom was to be postponed for four years. They tore out his hair and nails' by the roots, cut: .off his fingers by one joint at a time, and only suspended : his torture when they-seemed likely to deprive him of life. Yet he never wavered. ■ Ransomed at length, by the Dutch, „ he was released, and having visited Rome to. obtain a dispensation to .say Mass in spite of his mutilated hands, the Sovereign Pontiff replied : ' Indignum esset Christi martyrem Christi non biberi sanguinem.' y . - . ' Having obtained the < permission which he solicited, instead of seeking repose, he returned immediately to -America, and being recaptured by the Iroquois in 1646, was again cruelly tortured, and finally obtained the crown of martyrdom. , On th"c i6th"and 17th of March, 1649, Fathers Jean de"BVebeuf and Gabriel Lallemant, bo,th apostles "of the Hurons't passed 'to' their eternal' reward through" one of the most" "appalling* trials which man * ever inflicted"- or endured. The ' first had 'been twenty years in the. mission, and had converted .. more than seven thousand Indians; .the last was weak and, "delicate, and had only just commenced the ' apostolic career. Among his private', papers was found after- his death a writing in which he devoted himself to martyrdom, and wrote : 'O f "my Jesus,' sole object of my love," it is necessary, that Thy blood, shed for fhe savages as .well as* for us, should be efficaciously 'applied for their salvation. .It is on this account that I desire' to cooperate with .Thy grace," and to immolate myself for Thee.' Th~ey* were "both 'captured*" by the Iroquois, allies of " the English, and implacable enemies of "the Huroris, after a battle in which every combatant of the latter tribe was either kilted or captured. - - Beatification. The informative process for the beatification of Isaac Jo-" gues, Anthony Daniel," John de Brebeuf, Gabriel- Lallemant, Charles Gamier, Noel Chabancl, priests of the Society of Jesus; and of the laymen, their assistants, Rene Goupil and John da la Lande, was instituted early in the September of 1904 by his Grace Archbishop Begin. Although many others, of the early missionaries of Canada and their assistants, and even some of their neophytes, might have been included" in' this process, only those were selected whose- death for the faith can be most satisfactorily proved. ■ ' Through sufferings and sacrifices the Gospel gained ground on every side. The whole Huron" nation received the faith, and Protestant writers .tell us that' its survivors still do honor to their apostolic teachers. Abenakis and Algonquins, Otto? was and Onbndagas, received the message of peace. The Cayugas and Oneidas, the Seneca's and Miamis, welcomed the preachers of the Gospel; and a single/ missionary, Claude Allonez, lighted the torch of faith for more than twenty "'.different nations." In many a mission, from the Mohawk to' the Genesee, and from the Hudson to the Mississippi r were gathered Christian Indians, who would have done honor to the first ages of Christianity. Even the fierce Iroquois yielded at length to' trie promptings of grace,' and gave to the "Church bright examples' of Christian virtue. In the year 1881 the'Sachenis of the Algonquins and Iroquois sent to the Holy Father some articles made with then: own hands, accompanied by "the"following touching jette'r :— Thou art the 1 Shepherd of "all the faithful ; thou hast taught us to know Jesus Christ s/thou ditfsft ~seri(f us the men . of the black robe saying" to them', " Go",' seek' the Indians ; they % are my children ; help and assist them." Thou • art, our father, arid we will never acknowledge any 'other. Should our descendants forget thee and lapse into error, show - them these gifts!, and they, will return to thee.' ' General CarletonJ' . Governor- of Canada in, 1774, reports that in that year there we're in the colony no fewer than 150,00 a Catholics and less than 400 Protestants. In the Dominion of Canada there are now four ecclesiastical provinces,' nineteen diocese, three VicariatasApostolic, and two. Prefectures-Apostolic: According to ' the ' Catholic Almanac ' o^Bßs, there are in the" said provinces 17' ecclesiastical seminaries, 44 colleges,' and 'about 3500 ' "parish schools." The Laval University, founded in 1852," is an "offshoot from the Seminary of " Quebec, established in 1663 by de Laval, the first Bishop of Canada! At Quebec the"re is a

grand seminary and a minor seminary. In the diocese of Montreal, besides the grand seminary, the Sulpicians conduct a number of other institutes of learning, and in addition to the Sulpicians, the Jesuits, the Congregation of the Holy Cross, the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate, the Clercs de St. Viateur, the Basilian Fathers, and the Christian Brothers, devote themselves to the work of education. At present Catholic Canada has one Cardinal, seven Archbishops, twenty-three Bishops, and about fifteen hundred priests. The number of Catholics is 2,229,600; the total population is 5,371,315. The Indian population of the Dominion is now about 108,000.