St. Isaac Jogues by Cameron

Hi! Happy Feast of St. Isaac Jogues! In this blog post, I want to share with you a summary of St. Isaac that I wrote for school. He is definitely one of my favorite saints. This summary is based on the Vision Book: St. Isaac and the Indians.

St. Isaac Jogues dreamed of bringing the gospel to the Indians at a young age. He ended up becoming a missionary priest, and sailed to Canada to convert the Huron Indians. He went knowing that some tribes were not as friendly as others.

In 1636, at a mission in Quebec, he was accepted by the visiting Hurons to go live among them. They called him "Ondessonk," meaning "Bird of Prey," because of his piercing eyes. At the mission, he helped another French priest named Jean de Brebeuf (who also became a saint and martyr).

St. Isaac quickly mastered the difficult Huron language and studied their ways. Many Indians were closed to the religion of Christianity and thought that they didn't need God. However, the Priests' cabin was always open for them to come in and talk.

Soon more Indians began asking about Christianity. But some Indians didn't want the priests to turn the village Christian. St. Issac lived knowing that any moment he may be killed, but he did not live in fear, as he had always wanted to die a martyr.

Indians started becoming Christians and being baptized, and St. Isaac was very happy. But there were still Indians who rejected the Faith. Some of those invited St. Isaac to a feast.*SPOILER ALERT* When St. Isaac stooped to enter the low doorway, an Indian chopped off his head. 

But guess what? That same Indian converted to Christianity some time later. The most amazing thing, though, was that the Christian Indians began to convert the other Indians. 

St. Isaac is such an example of perseverance to me. He could have just left, any time he felt like it. He is also a missionary example to me and my family because he wasn't afraid to leave his possessions and home to go and preach. And to also be preaching in an area with savage Indians. 

Some people may worry about our safety if we were to go into the mission field. But may we all follow St. Isaac's example of courage in order to bring the gospel to distant lands! Thank you for reading this blog post.