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IF,
standing upon the threshold of the twentieth century, we cast a look
behind us to note the road traversed, the victories gained by the
great army of Christ, we discover everywhere marvels of abnegation
and sacrifice; everywhere we see rising before us the dazzling
figures of apostles, of doctors of the Church and of martyrs who
arouse our admiration and command our respect. There is no epoch, no
generation, even, which has not given to the Church its phalanx of
heroes, its quota of deeds of devotion, whether they have become
illustrious or have remained unknown.
Born barely three centuries ago, the
Christianity of New France has enriched history with pages no less
glorious than those in which are enshrined the lofty deeds of her
elders. To the list, already long, of workers for the gospel she has
added the names of the Récollets and of the Jesuits, of the
Sulpicians and of the Oblate Fathers, who crossed the seas to plant
the faith among the hordes of barbarians who inhabited the immense
regions today known as the Dominion of Canada.
And what daring was necessary, in the early days
of the colony, to plunge into the vast forests of North America 1
Incessant toil, sacrifice, pain and death in its most terrible forms
were the price that was gladly paid in the service of God by men who
turned their backs upon the comforts of civilized France to carry
the faith into the unknown wilderness.
Think of what Canada was at the beginning of the
seventeenth century 1 Instead of these fertile provinces, covered
to-day by luxuriant harvests, man's gaze met everywhere only
impenetrable forests in which the woodsman's axe had not yet
permitted the plough to cleave and fertilize the soil; instead of
our rich and populous cities, of our innumerable villages daintily
perched on the brinks of streams, or rising here and there in the
midst of verdant plains, the eye perceived only puny wigwams
isolated and lost upon the banks of the great river, or perhaps a
few agglomerations of smoky huts, such as Hochelaga or Stadacond;
instead of our iron rails, penetrating in all directions, instead of
our peaceful fields over which trains hasten at marvellous speed
from ocean to ocean, there were but narrow trails winding through a
jungle of primeval trees, behind which hid in turn the Iroquois, the
Huron or the Algonquin, awaiting the propitious moment to let fly
the fatal arrow; instead of the numerous vessels bearing over the
waves of the St. Lawrence, at a distance of more than six hundred
leagues from the sea, the products of the five continents ; instead
of yonder floating palaces, thronged with travellers from the four
corners of the earth, then only an occasional bark canoe came
gliding slyly along by the reeds of the shore, scarcely stopping
except to permit its crew to kindle a fire, to make prisoners or to
scalp some enemy.
A heroic courage was necessary to undertake to
carry the faith to these savage tribes. It was condemning one's self
to lead a life like theirs, of ineffable hardships, dangers and
privations, now in a bark canoe and paddle in hand, now on foot and
bearing upon one's shoulders the things necessary for the holy
sacrament; in the least case it was braving hunger and thirst,
exposing one's self to the rigours of an excessive cold, with which
European nations were not yet familiar; it often meant hastening to
meet the most horrible tortures. In spite of all this, however,
Father Le Caron did not hesitate to penetrate as far as the country
of the Hurons, while Fathers Sagard and Viel were sowing the first
seeds of Christianity in the St. Lawrence valley. The devotion of
the Récollets, to the family of whom belonged these first
missionaries of Canada, was but ill-rewarded, for, after the treaty
of St. Germain-en-Laye, which restored Canada to France, the king
refused them permission to return to a region which they had watered
with the sweat of their brows and fertilized with their blood.
The humble children of St. Francis had
already-evangelized the Huron tribes as far as the Georgian Bay,
when the Company of the Cent Associds was founded by Richelieu. The
obligation which the great cardinal imposed upon them of providing
for the maintenance of the propagators of the gospel was to assure
the future existence of the missions. The merit, however, which lay
in the creation of a society which did so much for the furtherance
of Roman Catholicism in North America is not due exclusively to the
great cardinal, for Samuel de Champlain can claim a large share of
it. "The welfare of a soul," said this pious founder of Quebec, "is
more than the conquest of an empire, and kings should think of
extending their rule in infidel countries only to assure therein the
reign of Jesus Christ."
Think of the suffering endured, in order to save
a soul, by men who for this sublime purpose renounced all that
constitutes the charm of life! Not only did the Jesuits, in the
early days of the colony, brave horrible dangers with invincible
steadfastness, but they even consented to imitate the savages, to
live their life, to learn their difficult idioms. Let us listen to
this magnificent testimony of the Protestant historian Bancroft:—
"The horrors of a Canadian life in the
wilderness were resisted by an invincible, passive courage, and a
deep, internal tranquillity. Away from the amenities of life, away
from the opportunities of 4 vain-glory, they became dead to the
world, and possessed their souls in unalterable peace. The few who
lived to grow old, though bowed by the toils of a long mission,
still kindled with the fervour of apostolic zeal. The history of
their labours is connected with the origin of every celebrated town
in the annals of French Canada; not a cape was turned nor a river
entered but a Jesuit led the way."
Must we now recall the edifying deaths of the
sons of Loyola, who brought the glad tidings of the gospel to the
Hurons?—Father Jogues, who returned from the banks of the Niagara
with a broken shoulder and mutilated hands, and went back, with
sublime persistence, to his barbarous persecutors, to pluck from
their midst the palm of martyrdom; Father Daniel, wounded by a spear
while he was absolving the dying in the village of St. Joseph;
Father Brdbeuf, refusing to escape with the women and children of
the hamlet of St. Louis, and expiring, together with Father Gabriel
Lalemant, in the most frightful tortures that Satan could suggest to
the imagination of a savage; Father Charles Gamier pierced with
three bullets, and giving up the ghost while blessing his converts;
Father de Noue dying on his knees in the snow!
These missions had succumbed in 1648 and 1649
under the attacks of the Iroquois. The venerable founder of St.
Sulpice, M. Olier, had foreseen this misfortune; he had always
doubted the success of missions so extended and so widely scattered
without a centre of support sufficiently strong to resist a
systematic and concerted attack of all their enemies at once.
Without disapproving the despatch of these flying columns of
missionaries which visited tribe after tribe (perhaps the only
possible method in a country governed by pagan chiefs), he believed
that another system of preaching the gospel would produce, perhaps
with less danger, a more durable effect in the regions protected by
the flag of France. Taking up again the thought of the Benedictine
monks, who have succeeded so well in other countries, M. Olier and
the other founders of Montreal wished to establish a centre of
fervent piety which should accomplish still more by example than by
preaching. The development and progress of religious work must
increase with the material importance of this centre of proselytism.
In consequence, success would be slow, less brilliant, but surer
than that ordinarily obtained by separate missions. This was, at
least, the hope of our fathers, and we of Quebec would seem unjust
towards Providence and towards them if, beholding the present
condition of the two seminaries of this city, of our Catholic
colleges, of our institutions of every kind, and of our religious
orders, we did not recognize that their thought was wise, and their
enterprise one of prudence and blessed by God.
Up to 1658 New France belonged to the
jurisdiction of the Bishops of St. Malo and of Rouen.
At the time of the second voyage of Cartier, in
1535, his whole crew, with their officers at their head, confessed
and received communion from the hands of the Bishop of St. Malo.
This jurisdiction lasted until the appointment of the first Bishop
of New France. The creation of a diocese came in due time; the need
of an ecclesiastical superior, of a character capable of imposing
his authority, made itself felt more and more. Disorders of all
kinds crept into the colony, and our fathers felt the necessity of a
firm and vigorous arm to remedy this alarming state of affairs. The
love of lucre, of gain easily acquired by the sale of spirituous
liquors to the savages, brought with it evils against which the
missionaries endeavoured to react.
Francis de Laval-Montmorency, who was called in
his youth the Abbd de Montigny, was, on the recommendation of the
Jesuits, appointed apostolic vicar by Pope Alexander VII, who
conferred upon him the title of Bishop of Petrasa
in partibus.
The Church in Canada was then directly connected with the Holy See,
and the sovereign pontiff abandoned to the king of France the right
of appointment and presentation of bishops having the authority of
apostolic vicars.
The difficulties which arose between Mgr. de
Laval and the Abbe de Queylus, Grand Vicar of Rouen for Canada, were
regrettable, but, thanks to the truly apostolic zeal and the purity
of intention of these two men of God, these difficulties
were not long in giving place to a noble rivalry
for good, fostered by a perfect harmony. The Abbd de Queylus had
come to take possession of the Island of Montreal for the company of
St. Sulpice, and to establish there a seminary on the model of that
in Paris. This creation, with that of the hospital established by
Mile. Mance, gave a great impetus to the young city of Montreal.
Moreover, religion was so truly the motive of the foundation of the
colony by M. Olier and his associates, that the latter had placed
the Island of Montreal under the protection of the Holy , Virgin.
The priests of St. Sulpice, who had become the lords of the island,
had already given an earnest of their labours; they too aspired to
venerate martyrs chosen from their ranks, and in the same year MM.
Lemaitre and Vignal perished at the hands of the wild Iroquois.
Meanwhile, under the paternal direction of Mgr.
de Laval, and the thoroughly Christian administration of governors
like Champlain, de Montmagny, dAilleboust, or of leaders like
Maisonneuve and Major Closse, Heaven was pleased to spread its
blessings upon the rising colony; a number of savages asked and
received baptism, and the fervour of the colonists endured. The men
were not the only ones to spread the good word; holy maidens worked
on their part for the glory of God, whether in the hospitals of
Quebec and Montreal, or in the institution of the Ursulines in the
heart of the city of Champlain, or, finally, in the modest school
founded at Ville-Marie by Sister Marguerite Bourgeoys. It is true
that the blood of the Indians and of their missionaries had been
shed in floods, that the Huron missions had been exterminated, and
that, moreover, two camps of Algonquins had been destroyed and swept
away; but nations as well as individuals may promise themselves the
greater progress in the spiritual life according as they commence it
with a more abundant and a richer record ; and the greatest treasure
of a nation is the blood of the martyrs who have founded it.
Moreover, the fugitive Hurons went to convert their enemies, and
even from the funeral pyres of the priests was to spring the spark
of faith for all these peoples. 1 wo hamlets were founded for the
converted Iroquois, those of the Sault St. Louis (Caughnawaga) and
of La Montagne at Montreal, and fervent neophytes gathered there.
Certain historians have regretted that the first
savages encountered by the French in North America should have been
Hurons ; an alliance made with the Iroquois, they say, would have
been a hundred times more profitable for civilization and for
France. What do we know about it? Man imagines and arranges his
plans, but above these arrangements hovers Providence—fools say,
chance —whose foreseeing hand sets all in order for the
accomplishment of His impenetrable design. Yet, however firmly
convinced the historian may be that the eye of Providence never
sleeps, that the Divine Hand is never still, he must be sober in his
observations; he must yield neither to his fancy nor to his
imagination; but neither must he banish God from history, for then
everything in it would become incomprehensible and inexplicable,
absurd and barren. It was this same God who guides events at His
will that inspired and sustained the devoted missionaries in their
efforts against the revenue-farmers in the matter of the sale of
intoxicating liquors to the savages. The struggle which they
maintained, supported by the venerable Bishop of Petrsea, is wholly
to their honour; it was a question of saving even against their will
the unfortunate children of the woods who were addicted to the fatal
passion of intoxication. Unhappily, the Governors d'Avaugour and de
Mdzy, in supporting the greed of the traders, were perhaps right
from the political point of view, but certainly wrong from a
philanthropic and Christian standpoint.
The colony continuing to prosper, and the
growing need of a national clergy becoming more and more felt, Mgr.
de Laval founded in 1663
a seminary at Quebec. The king decided that the tithes raised from
the colonists should be collected by the seminary, which was to
provide for the maintenance of the priests and for divine service in
the established parishes. The Sovereign Council fixed the tithe at a
twenty-sixth.
The missionaries continued, none the less, to
spread the light of the gospel and Christian civilization. It seems
that the field of their labour had never been too vast for their
desire. Ever onward I was their motto. While Fathers Garreau and Mes-nard
found death among the Algonquins on the coasts of Lake Superior, the
Sulpicians Dollier and Gallinde were planting the cross on the
shores of Lake Erie; Father Claude Allouez was preaching the gospel
beyond Lake Superior; Fathers Dablon, Marquette, and Druilletes were
establishing the mission of Sault Ste. Marie ; Father Albanel was
proceeding to explore Hudson Bay; Father Marquette, acting with
Jolliet, was following the course of the Mississippi as far as
Arkansas ; finally, later on, Father Arnaud accompanied La Vdrendrye
as far as the Rocky Mountains.
The establishment of the Catholic religion in
Canada had now witnessed its darkest days; its history becomes
intimately interwoven with that of the country. Up to the English
conquest, the clergy and the different religious congregations, as
faithful to France as to the Holy See, encouraged the Canadians in
their struggles against the invaders. Accordingly, at the time of
the invasion of the colony by Phipps, the Americans of Boston
declared that they would spare neither monks nor missionaries if
they succeeded in seizing Quebec ; they bore a particular grudge
against the priests of the seminary, to whom they ascribed the
ravages committed shortly before in New England by the
Abenaquis. They were punished for their
boasting; forty seminarists assembled at St. Joachim, the country
house of the seminary, joined the volunteers who fought at Beauport,
and contributed so much to the victory that Frontenac, to recompense
their bravery, presented them with a cannon captured by themselves.
The Church of Rome had been able to continue in
peace its mission in Canada from the departure of Mgr. de Laval, in
1684, to the conquest of the country by the English. The worthy
Bishop of Petrasa, created Bishop of Quebec in 1674, was succeeded
by Mgr. de St. Vallier, then by Mgr. de Mornay, who did not come to
Canada, by Mgr. de Dosquet, Mgr. Pourroy de l'Aube-Rivi&re, and Mgr.
de Pontbriant, who died the very year in which General de Ldvis made
of his flags on St. Helen's Island a sacred pyre.
In 1760 the Protestant religion was about to
penetrate into Canada in the train of the victorious armies of Great
Britain, having been proscribed in the colony from the time of
Champlain. With conquerors of a different religion, the role of the
Catholic clergy became much more arduous and delicate; this will be
readily admitted when we recall that Mgr. Briand was informally
apprised at the time of his appointment that the government of
England would appear to be ignorant of his consecration and
induction by the Bishop of Rome. But the clergy managed to keep
itself on a level with its task. A systematic opposition on its part
to the new masters of the country could only have drawn upon the
whole population a bitter oppression, and we would not behold to-day
the prosperity of these nine ecclesiastical provinces of Canada,
with their twenty-four dioceses, these numerous parishes which vie
with each other in the advancement of souls, these innumerable
religious houses which everywhere are spreading education or
charity. The Act of Quebec in 1774 delivered our fathers from the
unjust fetters fastened on their freedom by the oath required under
the Supremacy Act; but it is to the prudence of Mgr. Plessis in
particular that Catholics owe the religious liberty which they now
enjoy.
To-day, when passions are calmed, when we
possess a full and complete liberty of conscience, to-day when the
different religious denominations live side by side in mutual
respect and tolerance of each other's convictions, let us give
thanks to the spiritual guides who by their wisdom and moderation,
but also by their energetic resistance when it was necessary, knew
how to preserve for us our language and our religion. Let us always
respect the worthy prelates who, like those who 'direct us to-day,
edify us by their tact, their knowledge and their virtues. |
