Saint Jean de Brebeuf
Brébeuf, Saint Jean de (1593–1649), a French Catholic missionary and martyr in Canada. After becoming a Jesuit priest, he sailed to Quebec in 1625. Brébeuf opened a mission among the Huron Indians near Georgian Bay. In 1629 he went back to France after the English captured Canada. He returned in 1633 when the colony was restored to France. At first, Brébeuf and his Jesuit companions suffered abuses and hardships. Later, they had remarkable success in winning converts, but their mission was destroyed in the war between the Hurons and Iroquois. Brébeuf and Father Gabriel Lalement remained at their mission, although they could have escaped. They were seized and tortured to death. Brébeuf was made a saint in 1930. His feast day is October 19.