winter 2010

FFRROOMM TTHHEE DDIIRREECCTTOORR

Dear Friends of the Martyrs’ Shrine,

I hope you had a blessed and holy Christmas and arelooking forward to a holy and happy Easter. We are into a newyear and my prayer for each of you is that the good Lord willbountifully bless you and yours. Even though the air is coldand snow lies thick on the ground may our risen Lord give youa blessed and holy year. I’m sure your thoughts, like mine, areturning to the coming spring and all the promise it holds. Areyou ready for the Shrine 2010 season?

Just a reminder for the 2010 season that once againwe are not going to have a 10:30 a.m. Mass during the week-days of May, June, September and October. We tried this newschedule last year and no one even missed the dropped Mass.For the weekends of May, June, September and October we

will have our full slate of Masses, that is 9:00 am, 10:30 am, 12:00 noon and 7:30 pm.Once again we have a full roster of ethnic pilgrimages for the 2010 season. Elsewhere in

this publication you can find the 2010 schedule. You will note that we have added one new ethnicpilgrimage, the Goa pilgrimage. This is a new group that has requested a time slot during our sea-son. Let’s pray that our good Lord will bless the efforts of the organizers of this new pilgrimage.For a number of years now we have been holding steady with some 95,000 pilgrims each season.Last year (2009) we experienced a significant increase in our numbers. When all was said and donewe hosted some 5,000 more pilgrims than the years before. Praise God!

The Walk Where They Walked program will once again be hosting 3,000 plus students thisspring and fall. The success of this program continues to be a great blessing to the Shrine. This isespecially true when one keeps in mind that these young folk are our pilgrims of the future.

For those who visit us in 2010 you will note that the Knights of Columbus project, therefurbishing of the siding on the upper level of the Shrine Church, is now complete. May the goodLord continue to bless the Knights for their goodness to us.

On a final note, after much reflection and consideration the Shrine has decided to increaseits gate fees for the individual Day Pass from $3.00 to $4.00 and for the Bus Pass from $50.00 to$60.00. This is the first increase in our gate fees in over 15 years. When one considers how muchexpenses in general have gone up in the past 15 years this increase in our gate fees is quite modestby comparison. You are reminded that our gate fees are needed for the upkeep of our beautifulgrounds and flowerbeds.

May the good Lord bless and keep you and yours over the winter. We hope to see all ofyou at the Shrine next season.

A friend in the Lord,

Rev. Alex Kirsten, S.J.,Director

What’sInside

Director’s Message

St. Ignace (Part 2)Page 2

Who are These HolyMartyrs?

Page 3

Novena to theCanadian Martyrs

PrayersPage 4

Feast Day Homily 2008Page 5 and 6 and 7

** Tear-off Flap **Prayer Petitions

MSA Membership RenewalPrayer Requests

The Feast Day of theCanadian Martyrs

Page 8

Vol. 75 No. 1 2010

St. Ignace II --- Canada's Calvary Part IIby Steve Catlin

After the dispersion of the Hurons (Wendat) in 1649 and the return of the Jesuit missionaries and their converts to Quebec in1650, both because of the ongoing threat of invasion by the Iroquois, the region now known Simcoe County was left unpop-

ulated by the Europeans for a span of about two hundred years. Wendat village sites andeven Ste. Marie I and Ste. Marie II became overgrown and unrecognizable to theuntrained eye. The memory of these people and the Jesuit mission, however, were notcompletely forgotten. Early settlers began turning up native pottery and French iron axeswith their ploughs, and in 1844, a Jesuit by the name of Fr. Pierre Chazelle, SJ beganexploring the region, saying Mass at the ruins of Ste. Marie and searching with devotionfor the village of St. Ignace II, the scene of the martyrdom of Sts. Brébeuf and Lalemant.Other Jesuits would follow: those who were stationed at the mission on ManitoulinIsland (Frs. Point, Hanipaux, SJ), and others who specifically came to reclaim the areaas part of their Jesuit heritage (Frs. Martin, Jones). With only the references of St. IgnaceII in the Jesuit Relations as their guide, these educated priests none of whom weretrained archaeologists could not find this hallowed site.

It was not until the early decades ofthe twentieth century that a verydevout local lay man, Mr. AlphonseArpin, was able to find the site ofSt. Ignace II. With the assistance ofThomas George Connon fromElora, Ontario, Alphonse traveled

the old Wendat trails until he discovered a site that fit the description ofSt. Ignace II found in the Jesuit Relations. It has been said, that while heand others were at prayer at the site, balls of fire would emit from theground. It is also said that Alphonse buried a holy card of St. Térèse ofLisieux in an envelope at St. Ignace II and when he returned to recover it,the envelope was unchanged while the holy card had red stains on it.Based on their deductions, professional archaeologists such asWintemberg and later Jury explored and excavated the site. In 1946, St. Ignace II was identified on the west half of lot 6 inTay Township.

Since 1946, St. Ignace II has become a special place of pilgrimage and today holds a very special place in the prayer lives ofmany Catholics living in the Midland-Waubaushene area. In the late 1950's, Fr. Denis Hegarty, SJ found two burnt posts in

the ground at St. Ignace II, and identified them as the posts to whichSts. Brébeuf and Lalemant were bound and tortured. It must also benoted that Fr. Hegarty found the grave of Brébeuf at Ste. Marie I in1954. More recently, the late Michael Bernier of Michigan, a descen-dant of Alphonse Arpin, donated funds to construct an outdoor shelterfor the altar at St. Ignace II and a monument to his grandfather and Mr.Connon. Local historian Cecilia Hartley and surveyor Frank Poliquinof Barrie, both of fond memory, assisted greatly in keeping the story ofSt. Ignace II alive in the hearts and minds of many. Gerry Juneau, whoworked with Wilfrid Jury in 1946, continues to share his experience ofthe dig with those interested. Finally, for over the past fifteen years,Deacon Elmer Lampe of Ohio has devoted his time searching for theoriginal trails linking the Wendat village sites of St. Louis and St.Ignace II. Because of his work, pilgrims can walk where the Martyrs’

walked - the path to Canada’s Calvary.Page -2- Martyrs’ Shrine MESSAGE

Martyrs’ Shrine MESSAGE Page -3-

Who Are These Holy Martyrs?The Iroquois set fire to the Chapel and threw his body intothe flames. He was Martyred at Mount St. Louis, 12 milesfrom Ste. Marie at the age of 48.

Saint Charles Garnier, S.J. Martyred December 7, 1649.Charles Garnier, a Parisian, a Jesuit, and a priest, was

attracted to the arduous Missions of Canada. He came toHuronia at the age of thirty-one and for thirteen yearslaboured among the Hurons and Petuns. He was a victim ofthe Iroquois massacre of the village of Etharita, thirty milesfrom Ste. Marie. He refused to escape but exercised hischarity to the end. Saint Charles Garnier was always aperson of innocence and purity with a strong devotion toOur Lady whom he acknowledged looked after him as ayouth. Gentle, innocent, fearless, he succeeded in winningmany souls to God both at St. Joseph’s Mission and amongthe Petuns.

Saint Noël Chabanel, S.J. Martyred December 8, 1649.Noël Chabanel became a Jesuit at the age of seventeen,

a priest at twenty-eight, and was a successful professor andhumanist in France. Experiencing a strong desire toconsecrate himself to the Canadian Missions, he arrived inQuebec in 1643 and then travelled to Huronia. Theenthusiasm of the young missionary quickly lost its glamour.Unable to learn the Native language, feeling useless in theministry, sensitive to the surroundings, his life was to be oneunbroken chain of disappointments, an ordeal that hehimself called a “bloodless Martyrdom.” Tempted to returnto France, he bound himself by a vow to remain in NewFrance till death. For two years he stood in the shadow ofdeath and then was slain secretly by an apostate Huron onthe banks of the Nottawasaga, twenty-five miles from Ste.Marie on December 8, 1649.

Saint René Goupil, S.J. Martyred September 29, 1642.René Goupil entered the Jesuit Order but had to leave

because of ill health. He studied medicine and then offeredhis services to the Jesuit Missions in Canada. On his way toHuron country with Isaac Jogues in 1642, they werecaptured by the Iroquois, tortured and taken to the Mohawkcountry. On the journey to Mohawk country he begged IsaacJogues to receive his vows. A month later he wasmartyred for making the sign of the cross on a little Nativechild. He was martyred at Auriesville, N.Y. at the age ofthirty-five, on September 29, 1642.

Saint Jean de LaLande, S.J. Martyred October 19, 1646.Jean de LaLande was a young layman who offered his

services to the Jesuits of New France. He accompanied IsaacJogues to the Mohawk Mission in 1646, knowing what hemight have to suffer, gladly offering himself as a companionto Jogues and looking to God to protect him and to be hisreward if the sacrifice of his life was demanded. With IsaacJogues, he was tortured and threatened with death. He saw themartyrdom of Jogues on October 18. He himself wasmartyred on the following day at Auriesville, N.Y.

Saint Jean de Brébeuf, S.J. Martyred March 16, 1649.Jean de Brébeuf, born in Normandy, was ordained to the

priesthood at the age of 33. He was the first Jesuit Missionaryin Huronia (1626), a master of the Native language, workedthrough all the district of Huronia for thirteen years, foundedMission outposts and converted thousands to the faith. He wasknown as the Apostle of the Hurons. He was massive in body,strong, yet gentle in character. Before leaving Normandy, herevealed his sentiments. “I felt a strong desire to suffersomething for Christ.” He made a vow signed in his blood,never to refuse the offer of Martyrdom if asked to die forChrist. He was captured March 16, 1649 and tortured forhours. He was Martyred at St. Ignace, six miles from Ste.Marie, at the age of 56.

Saint Isaac Jogues, S.J. Martyred October 18, 1646.Isaac Jogues was a priest only seven months and was 29

years of age when he came to Canada in 1636. He set out atonce for Huronia. For three years he served at Missionoutposts, instructing and baptizing. On a return journey fromQuebec, he was captured by the Iroquois, brutally tortured,and made a slave. Thirteen months later he escaped toFrance. By the next year he was back in Canada and wassent as an emissary to discuss a treaty with the Iroquois. Hewent, “his heart seized with dread,” at the prospect of againfalling into the hands of his torturers. He was seized atOssernenan (now Auriesville, N.Y.) and cruelly beaten. Ablow from a tomahawk gave him the crown of Martyrdomon October 18, 1646, at the age of 39.

Saint Gabriel Lalemant, S.J. Martyred March 17, 1649.Gabriel Lalemant, a Parisian, became a Jesuit at age 19.

His ambition was to labour in the Missions and he asked tobe sent to the Canadian Missions. He was “one of the mostfeeble and delicate in health.” A scholar, he was professor ofPhilosophy, and dean of studies in French Colleges. Hearrived in Huronia in September 1648 where in words ofScriptures, he was destined to complete a long time in ashort space. In Huronia seven months, just beginning tospeak the Native tongue, he was sent to assist Brébeuf inFebruary 1649. He was captured with Brébeuf and torturedfor seventeen hours at the stake. Gabriel Lalemant died onMarch 17 in his 39th year, at St. Ignace, six miles from Ste.Marie.

Saint Antoine Daniel, S.J. Martyred July 4, 1648.Antoine Daniel was born in Normandy and became a

Jesuit and was ordained a priest at 29. He answered a strongcall to the Missions of Canada and was a Missioner nearBras d’Or Lakes (1632). He founded the first boys’ Collegein North America (Quebec 1635) and laboured in Huronia fortwelve years. He mastered the language and dreamed offorming future catechists among the Hurons who wouldinstruct other members of their tribe. The Mission wasattacked by the Iroquois in July 1648. Daniel encouragedthe converts to meet death as Christians should; he hastilybaptized all he could and went out to face the enemy. Hisbody was pierced with arrows and bullets.

Page -4- Martyrs’ Shrine MESSAGE

II nn vv ii tt aa tt ii oo nn && NN oo vv ee nn aa PP rr aa yy ee rr ss

PPRRAAYYEERR TTOO TTHHEE MMAARRTTYYRRSSHoly Martyrs and patrons, protect this land which you

have blessed by the shedding of your blood. Renew in thesedays our Catholic faith which you have helped toestablish in this new land. Bring all our fellow citizens to aknowledge and love of the truth. Make us zealous in theprofession of our faith so that we may continue and perfectthe work which you have begun with so much labour andsuffering. Pray for our homes, our schools, our missions, forvocations, for the conversion of sinners, the return of thosewho have wandered from the fold, and the perseverance ofall the Faithful. And foster a deeper and increasing unityamong all Christians. Amen.

PPRRAAYYEERR TTOO OOUURR LLAADDYYGlorious Queen of Martyrs, to whom the early

missionaries of this country were so devoted and fromwhom they received so many favours, graciously listen tomy petition. Ask your Divine Son to remember all they didfor His glory. Remind Him that they preached the gospeland made His holy name known to thousands who hadnever heard of Him, and then for Him had theirapostolic labours crowned by shedding their blood.Exercise your motherly influence as you did at Cana, andimplore Him to grant me what I ask in this Novena, if it beaccording to His will. Amen.

PPRRAAYYEERR TTOO SSTT.. JJOOSSEEPPHH(Patron of the Martyrs and of Canada)

O God, who in your special Providence deigned to chooseblessed Joseph to be the spouse of your holy Mother, grant,we beseech you, that we may deserve to have him as ourintercessor in heaven whom we venerate on earth as ourprotector. You who live and reign in the world without end.Amen.

NNOOVVEENNAA PPRRAAYYEERRO God, who by the preaching and the blood of Your blessed

Martyrs, Jean and Isaac and their companions, consecrated thefirst fruits of faith in the vast regions of North America,graciously grant that by their intercession the flourishingharvest of Christians may be everywhere and alwaysincreased. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Jean de Brébeuf, pray for us St. Charles Garnier, pray for usSt. Isaac Jogues, pray for us St. Noël Chabanel, pray for usSt. Gabriel Lalemant, pray for us St. René Goupil, pray for usSt. Antoine Daniel, pray for us St. Jean de LaLande, pray for us

Holy Mary, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us

PP RR AA YY EE RR OO FF PP EE TT II TT II OO NNO God, who inflamed the hearts of your blessed Martyrs

with an admirable zeal for the salvation of souls,grant me, I beseech you, my petitions,

so that the favours obtained through their intercession may make manifestbefore your people the power and the glory of your name. Amen.

We invite you to join in the Novena to the CanadianMartyrs and St. Joseph, March 11-19, 2010. During thesenine days we honour all the Martyrs and commemorate themartyrdoms of St. Jean de Brébeuf and St. GabrielLalemant and the Feast of St. Joseph (March 19) in whomthe Martyrs placed great trust.

A Novena of Masses and the Novena Prayers to theMartyrs will be offered for the intentions of all making theNovena. Intentions that are sent to the Shrine will be left onthe altar beside the relics of the Martyrs during the Novena.

May St. Joseph and the Martyrs, patrons of Canada,intercede for all of us and for our country.

THE SELF-SACRIFICING PASTORST. ANTOINE DANIEL

IN THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST

By Very Reverend Terrence T. Prendergast, SJ

At the beginning of my homily today, I wish to express mygratitude to Father Kirsten for his gracious invitation to preside at thisEucharist in what is a very specialplace for me and many of you. It isa joy for me to return to a spot thatholds such precious memories forme as a Jesuit.

There is a phrase in theEpistle to the Hebrews that I havealways associated with the mission-aries of Huronia because it is used inthe readings proper to the Jesuit cel-ebration of the Martyrs Feast. Intelling how people lived in faith, theauthor of Hebrews speaks of somewandering over the face of the earthwhile yearning for their heavenlyhomeland:

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order toobtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging andeven chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they weresawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skinsof sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom theworld was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains and incaves and holes in the ground” (Hebrews 11:35b-38).

Our evangelist is giving a description of how, throughout sal-vation history, people signalled that they lived by faith, seeking ahomeland better than they knew. Our biblical author shows us that hereads salvation history in a new way—in the lives of the faith commu-nity's forebears—hoping thereby to persuade his contemporaries thatthey, too, can live heroically. Similarly, the example of the Martyrs,though in a different time and culture, should model our witnessing toChrist in our daily lives.

For they in the past and we in the present are being enlight-ened by the Holy Spirit into discovering unexpected truths. The prismthrough which all of reality and every human experience are being fil-tered lies in Christ's passion, death and resurrection. For Jesus isdescribed in Hebrews 12 as “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. Forthe sake of the joy that was set before Him Jesus endured the Cross,disregarding its shame” (Hebrews 12:2).

The same reality can be looked at from a variety of angles.This is what the New Testament did also with regard to the death ofJesus. The sign of opprobrium, of rejection, of disgrace and shame—the cross as instrument of crucifixion—became the sign of glory andthe model for all of Christian discipleship.

The power of the Paschal Mystery to shed light on and inter-pret faith experiences is one of the many parallels we may find in thelife and death of the Martyrs and the Epistle to the Hebrews.

Today, I would like to focus our reflection on the Martyrs uponthe first missionary to die in Huronia, Antoine Daniel on July 4, 1648.


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Born in Dieppe on May 27,1601, Antoine Daniel hadalready begun legal studieswhen he entered the novitiate ofthe Society of Jesus at Rouen onOctober 1, 1621. He was ateacher of junior classes at theCollège in Rouen (1623–27),studied theology at the Collègein Clermont (1627–30), taughthumanities (1630–1631), andwas minister at the Collège in Eu(1631–32).

In 1626 Father CharlesLalemant wrote from Quebec tohis brother Jerome: “A littleHuron is going to see you; helongs to see France. He is very fond of us and manifests astrong desire to be instructed; nevertheless, his father and theCaptain of the nation wishes to see him next year, assuring usthat, if he is satisfied, he will give him to us for some years. Itis of importance that he should be thoroughly satisfied, for ifthis child is once instructed, it will open the way to many tribeswhere he will be very useful.”

The young Huron lad in question, Amantacha, wasbaptized at Rouen during the time that Father Daniel was ateacher at the college and the presence of the young Huron atRouen may have played some part in his missionary vocation.

In 1632, Father Daniel arrived at Cape Breton, wherethe habitation was under the command of his brother Charles,a French captain. The following year 1633, he was at Quebecand was assigned, with Jean de Brébeuf to the Huron Missionthough their departure did not take place until 1634.

No missionary experienced the hardships and perilsoffered at that period by the trip into Huronia as much asFather Daniel did; in 1634 and again in 1638 he was aban-doned on the way by his guides. He soon found himself notonly alone but ill, and he attributed to special divine protectionthe fact that he was able to reach his destination at all. Thereturn trip he made in 1636 was equally arduous, and on arrivalat Trois-Rivières he was literally exhausted.

Daniel made rapid progress in learning the language,and he had soon taught the children to sing the Our Father andCreed in Huron. His kindness, his gentleness, and his gifts as ateacher caused him to be assigned to a new apostolate that themissionaries, in their lack of experience of the actual circum-stances, thought both feasible and full of promise for the prop-agation of the faith: the founding at Quebec of a seminary towhich young Hurons would come to be trained in Christianknowledge and virtues. That college founded in Quebec issometimes seen as the foundation of Toronto’s Regis College.

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So great were the hopes aroused by this foundation that Huronia sacrificed for it one of its best missionaries, and theJesuits at Quebec deprived themselves of the services of five very useful servants. Two years’ experience was to show that thechildren of Huronia were not suited to, and not suitable for, this European type of education.

The splendid dream came to naught, and brought about Father Daniel’s return to active missionary life. He devotedhimself to it indefatigably and effectively for ten years. On July 4, 1648 the Iroquois overran the Saint-Joseph II mission(Teanaostaiaë, near Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario) just as Father Daniel was finishing his Mass. He encouraged the neo-phytes and spoke so movingly of the truths of the faith that the pagans in large numbers asked him to baptize them.

After wreaking havoc in the village, the Iroquois attacked the chapel: “Flee,” said the missionary to his congregation,“and keep the faith to your dying breath.” As for himself, his life belonged to the souls in his charge. He left the chapel andstrode towards the enemy, who were astonished by such courage. When the first moment of stupefaction had passed, his bodywas riddled with arrows. A bullet struck him in the chest, passing through his body, and he fell uttering the name of Jesus.After desecrating his body, the Iroquois threw it into the fire that was consuming the chapel.

As the first martyr of Huronia, Father Daniel, even after his death, inspired in his brother missionaries a wealth of ten-derness and encouragement. Father Ragueneau, his superior, spoke of him in a letter to the general of the order as "a trulyremarkable man, humble, obedient, united with God, of never failing patience and indomitable courage in adversity"(Thwaites, tr. Relations, XXXIII, 253-269).

In this Year of the Priest 2009-2010, various models of selfless service are set before us: the holy Cure d’Ars and St.Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, whose feast was earlier this week: great confessors and reformers of the priesthood in their day.

But the model of priestly heroism surely extends to the martyrdom of Antoine Daniel who, like Jesus the GoodShepherd, laid down his life for his flock.

“The first decades of the seventeenth century were a real springtime for the Church in France. Mysticism, missionaryzeal, charitable works—all came together in an outburst of holiness” (M.J. Lacroix in Companions of Jesus: Spiritual Profilesof the Jesuit Saints and Beati; Rome: General’s Curia, 1974, p. 73). The outburst of holiness included St. John Francis Regis,to whose tomb St. Jean Marie Vianney made a pilgrimage as he discerned his call to the priesthood; it also included, I believe,Antoine Daniel and our other martyr saints of Huronia and New York recalled today.

The gospel reading, drawn from Matthew's gospel, encapsulates the spiritual motivation for all that the Christians ofHuronia did—how they lived and with what dispositions they wished to die. The second half of the gospel begins with Jesustelling His disciples about the divine logic that permitted His suffering and death as the way of His total self-donation to oth-ers and the Father. God's response to such selfless love lies in the resurrection, the beginning of a new way of being presentto people in their need, the Kingdom of God and life eternal.

The foolishness of the divine logic is that others are called to enter on the same way to eternal life by living in thisworld as Jesus did. “If anyone wants to be my follower, let him or her deny self, take up the cross and follow me. For thosewho want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

This was the outlook the Martyrs absorbed as they prayed daily, and as they steeped themselves in gospel spiritualityduring their annual retreat, when they contemplated their Lord and Saviour in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola,their spiritual guide and mentor.

It was also the experience of St. Paul in the first reading which speaks of the missionary disciple as carrying in hisbody the “dying of Jesus” so that the risen “life may be made visible in our mortal flesh”.

Now well into the Third Millennium of Christ's coming in our midst, we want to share the Good News with our age.In the Jesuit Relations are contained words of advice on how to be an effective evangelist drawing people to Christ. Writtenby an experienced missioner for a newly-arrived recruit, it intended to draw the Native People to Christ. It can serve as a modelfor us in drawing those who do not yet know Christ to follow Him.

“Not so much knowledge is necessary as friendship and sound virtue. The four elements of an apostolic person in NewFrance are charm, humility, patience and generous friendship. Too anxious a zeal scorches more than it warms and ruins every-thing. Great kindness and adaptability are necessary to attract gradually these Indians. They do not understand our theologytoo well, but they understand our humility and our friendliness, and allow themselves to be won.”

We pray today that, as we strive to emulate the Jesuit Martyr-saints of North America in evangelizing others with theGospel of Life, we may take these words to heart along with the genuine self-sacrificing love of those who lived the faith inHuronia before us.

Then we will know how to give ourselves in love as Antoine Daniel did and gladly share the Good News in our dayas the Canadian Martyrs did in theirs.

May 15 SHRINE OPENS (Sat.) 29 Knights of Columbus Tri-Zone Retreat 30 Knights of Columbus Tri-Zone Mass of

Thanksgiving30 Blessed Trinity (Sat.)

June 05 Czech12 Vietnamese (Sat.)12-13 First Nations27 Italian National Pilgrimage

July 03 Korean04 Holy Crucifixion Community04 Slovak10 India, Pakistan (Sat.)10 Chinese Pilgrimage (Sat.)11 German Pilgrimage17 Tamil Catholic Community (Sat.)18 Croation Pilgrimage23-25 Archdiocese of Toronto Youth Rally

25 Portuguese

Aug. 07 Filipino (Sat.)14 Walking Pilgrimage (Sat.)15 Polish21 Hungarian (Sat.)21 Hispanic Pilgrimage (Sat.)22 Lithuanian22 Mission Sunday26 Communal Anointing Service28 Irish (Sat.)28 Goa Pilgrimage Group

Sept. 11 Archdiocesan Western Region (Sat.)11 Slovenian12 International Order of Alhambra19 26th Annual Living Rosary Celebration25 The Feast of the Canadian Martyrs (Sat.)

Oct. 12 SHRINE CLOSES for the season


Pilgrimages - 2010

In your kindness please keep us in your prayers:SHRINE DIRECTOR: Rev. Alex Kirsten, SJ OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR: Mrs. Darlene SunnertonASSIST. DIRECTOR: To be announced Martyrs’ ShrineSHRINE STAFF: Rev. Keith Langstaff, SJ P.O. Box 7

Rev. Stephen LeBlanc, SJ Midland, ON L4R 4K6Rev. Patrick Coldricks, SJ Tel: (705) 526-3788

Fax: (705) 526-1546http://www.martyrs-shrine.com

Annual Celebration of the Feast of the Jesuit MartyrsBy: Rev. Len Altilia, SJ

Each year the Martyrs' Shrine in Midland, Ontario celebrates the feast of the JesuitMartyrs of New France, to whom the Shrine is dedicated. This year's celebration tookplace on Saturday, September 26, the date on which the Canadian Church celebratestheir feast. About 700 people attended the mass celebrated by Archbishop TerrencePrendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa, and several Jesuit priests. ArchbishopPrendergast delivered an inspiring homily (see elsewhere for this item) focusing on theexperience of St. Antoine Daniel, S.J., the first of the Huronia Jesuits to be martyred in1648.

Among the participants were 23 novices from three Jesuit novitiates, representing eightJesuit provinces in Canada and the United States: Montreal, Quebec (French andEnglish Canada), Syracuse, New York (New York, New England, and Maryland), andBerkeley, Michigan (Wisconsin, Chicago, and Detroit). Across North America there are6 Jesuit novitiates with approximately 85novices, over two years. Those attending thiscelebration were all in their first year.

Following the Mass, there was a reception forall of the attendees in the Filion Centre below

the Shrine church. Later in the afternoon, the Jesuits gathered with members of theBoard of Directors of Martyrs' Shrine and invited friends of the Shrine for a social anddinner.

winter 2010

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