Noël Chabanel (February 2, 1613 – December 8, 1649) was a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, and one of the Canadian Martyrs.

Biography

Chabenal was born February 2, 1613 in the village of Saugues, France, the youngest of four children. His brother Pierre entered the Society of Jesus in 1623. Chabanel entered the Jesuit novitiate at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

at the age of seventeen, and became a professor of

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

at several Jesuit colleges. He was highly esteemed for virtue and learning. In 1643, he was sent to

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

along with Leonard Garreau and Gabriel Druillettes. Although he studied the

Algonquin language Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: or ) is either a distinct Algonquian languages, Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe language dialects, Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alon ...

for a time, he never made much headway. He was appointed to the mission at Sainte-Marie. In his apostolic labours he was the companion of Charles Garnier. As he felt a strong repugnance to the life and habits of the Huron, and feared it might result in him withdrawing from the work, he bound himself by vow never to leave the mission except under obedience.Antall, Richard. "Misfit and martyr: The ‘holy frustration’ of St. Noel Chabanel", ''Angelus News'', October 19, 2022
/ref> Chabanel was sent to assist Jean de Brébeuf at the mission of Saint Louis (near the present day hamlet of

Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbor, harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. It acts as both a major trading hub and tourist attraction of Hong Kong in general. Lying in ...

), but was replaced in February 1649 by Gabriel Lalemant. Chabanel was sent to help Charles Garnier among the Petun. One month later, Brébeuf and Lalemant were captured in an Iroquois raid on the St. Louis mission and taken to the nearby mission off St. Ignace where they were killed.Campbell, T.J., ''Pioneer priests of North America, 1642-1710'', Vol. 2, Fordham University Press, 1910, p. 367
/ref> After the deaths of Brébeuf and Lalement, the Jesuits decided to abandon Sainte-Marie among the Hurons and burned the mission rather than risk it being desecrated or taken over by Iroquois. In early December 1649, Chabanel was directed to go to St. Joseph Island. Chabanel was martyred on December 8, 1649, by what is described as a "renegade" Huron. There was a strong presumption that he was killed by the man who offered to carry him across. Paul Ragueneau, Provincial Superior, noted that Louis Honarreennha was known to have believed and spread a false rumor that the French had betrayed the Huron and made a secret treaty with the Iroquois; and later admitted that he killed Chabanel.

Veneration

Noël Chabanel was canonized by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

on 29 June 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chabanel, Noel Jesuit saints 1613 births 1649 deaths Jesuit martyrs Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Canadian Roman Catholic saints French Roman Catholic saints Jesuit missionaries in New France French Roman Catholic missionaries 17th-century French Jesuits 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 17th-century Christian saints