Canada                        René Goupil                19 October 2025


   Today, incidentally, is the fête du prénom René - in other words, my
   name day.  It's actually the feast day of René Goupil, a surgeon born
   in France who later emigrated to New France (that is, Canada).  He
   lived among the Huron people for two years, performing two jobs:
   working as a surgeon and as a catechist.  In 1642, René Goupil was
   returning to Huron territory, accompanying the missionary Isaac
   Jogues, when they fell into an ambush by the Mohawk tribe, who were
   at war with both the Hurons and the French.  The captives were
   tortured and afterwards taken to the Mohawk settlement of Ossernenon
   (where New York is now located).

   In September of that same year, René noticed a Mohawk boy from the
   local tribe watching him with interest, and decided to bless him with
   the sign of the cross.  This displeased the boy's grandfather, who
   had been observing them and saw René's gesture, which sent him into a
   rage: he thought René was performing witchcraft.  That evening, one
   of the warriors crept up to him and killed René Goupil with a blow
   from a tomahawk to the head.  Thus he became the first canonised
   Catholic martyr of North America.

   We know this story thanks to Isaac Jogues, who later managed to
   escape from captivity.  I've always had an interest in Canadian
   history and, what's more, I'm currently lying in a Catholic hospital,
   which makes it all the more interesting to learn the details of this
   memorial date.





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