John de Brébeuf

About John de Brébeuf

Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit missionary to the Huron people in Canada and one of the North American Martyrs. He worked among the Hurons for years, learning their language and culture, creating a dictionary and catechism. In 1649, Iroquois warriors attacked the Huron mission, captured Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant, and tortured them horrifically—boiling water poured over them in mockery of baptism, red-hot hatchets hung around their necks, and their bodies mutilated. Brébeuf never stopped preaching Christ. He was canonized with seven other North American Martyrs in 1930.