Question B. St. Isaac Jogues

Question A
St. Isaac Jogues was a French missionary born on 10th January, 1607 in Orleans, France (New Advent, 2016).
Question B
St. Isaac Jogues began his work of faith by joining the Society of Jesus in 1624. As a Jesuit, he became a professor of literature during this time and taught at Rouen before being ordained as priest and sent on mission work in 1636 in Canada. He is known for his work as one of the most remarkable missionaries among the Huron, Iroquois and other natives of North America. He is as well known to be the first priest of the Catholic Church to enter Manhattan Island (Greer , 2000).
Question C
Jogues mission work stemmed from the inspiration of other missionaries who had come back to France in 1636. These included Father Charles Lalement, Father Masse and Father Brebeuf who told of their experiences, tortures and challenges that they faced from the natives of areas they visited. Such accounts inspired and gave Jogues the motivation to work for the welfare and conversion of natives to the catholic faith. He therefore set out with other ordained

priests to the Huron and Algonquian populations of New France.
Question D
St.

Isaac was the first European to name Lake George as the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament (Lac du Saint Sacrament). In his mission work, he managed to learn the language and ways of the natives. He was welcomed among the people and stayed with them for several years despite the threat of recurring epidemics that were blamed on them by the natives. They had to leave after a while when the community became hostile and started visiting other communities. They settled in the territory of the Sauteurs and served as resident missionaries at St. Mary’s for a while. During his captivity in 1642, by the Iroquois, Jogues and his companions underwent torture and harsh conditions for several months before regaining their freedom. Despite his injuries from the tortures, he continued offering comfort and spiritual nourishment to the other prisoners to remain steadfast in their faith (AmericanCatholic.org,

2016)
Question E
St. Isaac Jogues is the patron saint for martyrdom (O'Sullivan, 1947). He displayed a resilience and zeal to continue with the work of the church even after his escape from the Iroquois. He would have decided to stay in his homeland but his zeal pushed him back to the mission. He set sail for his missions among the Hurons. He was a strong believer in the fact that through his martyrdom, he was partaking in Christ’s suffering on the cross. He therefore did not fear the face of death. His wounds and imminent death allowed him to imitate and hence partake in the passion of Christ for the sake of the Christian faith. All this would secure him eternity in Heaven.

Question F
Under captivity, Jogues underwent countless beatings and various tortures that consequently left him mutilated of some fingers. On his return to France, Pope Urban VIII allowed him to offer mass despite missing a thumb and forefinger that were needed to offer the sacrament. This showed that his sufferings were not in vain and the church still recognized him worthy of his task. After his death, his murderer was also caught and he was in a miraculous twist baptized and renamed after Jogues.
In 1930, the church under Pope Pius XI canonized St. Jogues along with the other seven Jesuit martyrs of North America. He is remembered in various ways for example through having several monuments like the Shrine of the North American Martyrs and buildings dedicated to him (Talbot, 2002).