For the Sake of New Christians, Jogues Gave Himself up to Torture
Statue of Isaac Jogues at Auriesville.
ISAAC JOGUES WATCHED from his hiding place as Iroquois Indians captured his fellow priests and Huron allies. “I was watching this disaster from a place very favorable for concealing me from the sight of the enemy, being able to hide myself in thickets and among very tall and dense reeds,” he wrote. But he was troubled by his safety. “‘Could I, indeed,’ I said to myself, ‘abandon our French and leave those good Neophytes and those poor Catechumens, without giving them the help which the Church of my God has entrusted to me?’ Flight seemed horrible to me; ‘It must be,’ I said in my heart, ‘'that my body suffer the fire of earth, in order to deliver those poor souls from the flames of Hell.’” On this day, 2 August 1643, he stepped forward and gave himself up to the Iroquois.
Months of torture followed. The Indians ripped out his fingernails and women bit the tender finger tips to the bone. He was stripped, mocked, made to run the gauntlet at each village he entered, mutilated, burned, and driven on forced marches. Through it all Jogues maintained his Christian witness. His situation finally eased when an old woman adopted him. He had just enough strength left to gather firewood for her.
Born in France, Jogues came to Canada in hope of winning souls to Christ. In Canada, he endured much to bring this about. Contempt, threat of death, filthy food, exposure to the elements—these were his daily lot as he worked among the Huron tribes. He wept before the Lord in long hours of prayer, asking God to accept his own life if by yielding it the Indians of North America might be won to Christ. One night he heard what he took to be a word from the Lord, saying: “Your prayers are granted. It will happen as you have asked. Take heart! Be courageous!”
In his captivity, Jogues won the respect of the Iroquois. Once he escaped to a Dutch ship. The Indians threatened to kill every Hollander in America if Jogues was not returned, and he voluntarily gave himself up again. A few months later, the Dutch ransomed him. He returned to France and found himself embarrassed by the praise lavished on him.
Because his fingers were badly mutilated, Jogues was unable to hold the host (the bread of the Eucharist) in the manner required by Catholics but Pope Urban VIII granted him a dispensation to officiate at mass anyhow. The missionary pleaded to be allowed to return to the Iroquois. His request was not granted when he first returned to Canada. However, he was sent later to negotiate with the Iroquois. During this parlay, a suspicious Indian tomahawked Jogues. The Indian who did the deed was later tried by the French. Before he was hung, he converted to Christianity and took “Isaac Jogues” as his baptismal name.
—Dan Graves
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The Jesuits arose as part of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, a story told in Christian History #122 The Catholic Reformation
or watch a video on the Jesuit founder: Pioneers Of The Spirit: Ignatius Loyola
