Our Glorious Catholic Heritage:
The North American Martyrs
Long before the Dutch and British established their Freemasonic Republic in 1776, the first foundation of American settlements (after, of course, the tribes of the native Indian population) were the Catholic missions and cities established by the zealous French, German, and Italian missionaries in the North and Midwest of the continent, and the equally zealous Spanish missionaries throughout the Southern and Western parts of the continent. Thus do we have the glorious Catholic heritage of the North American continent as established by the intrepid missionaries, Catholic explorers, and zealous martyrs long before the pollution of American shores by the Puritans, Anglicans, Methodists, Dutch Calvinists, and other heretical sects who established the empire of the Masonic Freethinkers. Among the courageous early Catholic missionaries were the renowned North American Martyrs of Quebéc, Upper New England, Ontario, and upstate New York.
The Society of Jesus had been founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola during the turbulent times following the Protestant Revolution. By the dawning of the seventeenth century the Jesuits had won renown as zealous missionaries and ardent defenders of the Catholic Faith.
The Order was still at the peak of its power, prestige, and holiness when a new mission field began to unfold. Catholic France was beginning to colonize North America, and the vast untamed regions of the New World were inhabited by pagan natives who had never before been evangelized.
Precious to God are His missionaries, those heroic souls who, in imitation of the Twelve Apostles, "go forth and teach all nations" the way of salvation. Yet, in this present age of heretical religious tolerance and indifferentism, it is unfortunate, but not surprising, to find the ancient apostolic spirit gone. What need is there for missionaries if, as many today erroneously contend, the only requirement for salvation is personal sincerity in whatever one believes? Indeed, the driving force behind all genuine apostolic labor is Our Lord's command to "teach" every human creature the truths necessary for their salvation. Our Lord added to this commission, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned."
Members of the Society of Jesus who dedicated themselves to the conversion of the American Indians took Christ's words literally. They journeyed from comfortable Renaissance France to the frontiers of North America that they might preach and baptize. After pouring the saving waters of Baptism on a dying Indian child, Saint Jean de Brébeuf, the great pioneer of this mission, exclaimed with joy, "For this one single occasion I would travel all the way from France; I would cross the great ocean to win one little soul for Our Lord!" And so pleased was God with the genuine zeal and the extraordinary sacrifices of these generous apostles that He bestowed upon Father Brébeuf and seven of his fellow missionaries the glorious crown of martyrdom.
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