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Views from the Choir Loft

Jesuit Martyrs of North America by John A. O’Brien

Corpus Christi Watershed · November 6, 2013

223 Martyrs HE FOLLOWING BOOK has been made available for free download courtesy of the Jean de Lalande Library. If you appreciate these efforts, please consider making a donation by using the link at the top of the page.

      * *  Free PDF Download • 321 pages

      * *  Purchase this book • Softcover, Large Print   ($14.82)

Of all the books that have been written about the Eight Jesuit Martyrs of North America, Fr. John A. O’Brien’s opus is perhaps the best … and most concise. For this reason, Watershed has gone to great effort to provide this PDF scan which we offer free of charge.

HE FIRST MARTYRS OF NORTH AMERICA by Father John A. O’Brien. In this volume is told the inspiring story of eight humble and faithful men — the eight commonly known as the Jesuit martyrs of North America. They were the first individuals on this continent to be canonized as saints by the Catholic Church. The willingness with which these men ventured into the wilderness lived and labored among the Indians under the most revolting and painful conditions, and gladly, almost exultantly, suffered torture and death, can hardly be matched by any other enterprise in history. Their letters and records — simply related and carefully noted in spite of all hardships and weariness — contribute so splendidly to the greater knowledge of the life, the customs and the languages of the Indians, that they are equally remarkable. Here is the account of Father Isaac Jogues, who was the first priest to enter what is now New York State, and of his two lay assistants, Rene Goupil and Jean de Lalande; of Father Jean de Brebeuf, who was among the first missionaries to accompany the Huron party into Huronia, and among the last to leave; of Father Gabriel Lalemant, who though the smallest and most delicate in health of all the Jesuit missionaries, still won in six months by iron will and unwavering determination, a martyr’s end; of Fathers Antoine Daniel, and Charles Garnier, who were murdered by the Iroquois; and of Father Noël Chabanel who lost his life to one treacherous Huron, but whose memory lives on as the last of the eight who gave their lives in the missions of the New World. Peppered throughout with excerpts from correspondence and notes made by these and other missionaries, THE FIRST MARTYRS OF NORTH AMERICA is a propelling story of heroic endurance and magnificant achievement: a brilliant, important chapter in the history of America.   Softcover. 321 pages. Large Print.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles, PDF Download Last Updated: January 13, 2020

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Quick Thoughts

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

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2 January 2021 • Temptation

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—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“In the Latin Church the pipe organ is to be held in high esteem, for it is the traditional musical instrument which adds a wonderful splendor to the Church’s ceremonies and powerfully lifts up man’s mind to God and to higher things.”

— Vatican II Council

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