St. Jean de Brebeuf

St. Jean de Brebeuf, 1593 - 1649, was a french born Jesuit missionary and martyr of New France who  arrived in America in 1625 to evangelise Native Americans.  He lived among the Huron for over 15 years under difficult  and challenging circumstances. In 1648 the Iroquois  launched a war of extermination against the Huron, their  traditional enemies. Refusing to flee when their Huron  villlage was attacked, Brebeuf and his assistant, Gabriel   Lalemant, were captured the following year and tortured to  death by the Iroquois. Brebeuf was canonised in 1930 with seven other missionaries who are collectively called  the North American martyrs. He is the patron saint of  Canada. His feast day is October 19th.