Jean de Lalande

About Jean de Lalande

Lalande served the Jesuits as a lay assistant. He bought devotional books at the sale of Jean Nicollet's belongings in 1642. He committed his working life to the missionaries' service.

Lalande accompanied Jogues to Mohawk territory in 1646. He continued when most of the Indigenous companions turned back, leaving one to travel with the two Frenchmen.

He died on October 18 or 19, 1646; the day remains uncertain. Quebec received news of the deaths in June 1647.

The Church later remembered him among eight Canadian martyrs, alongside six priests and another lay assistant, René Goupil. His recognition preserves the place of a lay worker in a mission often remembered principally through its priests. He was canonized with the group in 1930.

A later Canadian litany includes Lalande among the martyrs and invites the faithful to ask for their prayers. This is devotion addressed to him, not a surviving prayer that he composed.

Explore similar vocations

• 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya
• Abadiu of Antinoe
• Abamun of Tarnut
• Abanoub

Prayers for Jean de Lalande