7:45am   28 Wayside Academy Students and two teachers gather and depart from Wayside Academy in Peterborough for St. Mary’s Church in Lindsay.

8:45am   About 17 Adults and Youth from Lindsay Gather at St. Mary’s Church Parking Lot.  It is a warm day for mid-march with the sun shining down and everyone is in high spirits looking forward to the shrine.  The Bus arrives with Wayside Students and Teachers at St. Mary’s.  Some of the pilgrims from Lindsay board the bus and the remaining drive their cars because of limited space on the bus.  The teachers ask if anyone needs to go to the washroom because the washrooms at the Shrine are closed.  No one has to go.  We depart for Midland Ontario.

Stations of the Cross at the Shrine

11:00am   We Arrive at Martyrs’ Shrine and many have to go the washroom.  Some take a pit stop at the nearest Tim Horton’s while the remaining meet up with 48 staff and students from Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy which is a Catholic University in Barry’s Bay Ontario.  Some Sisters of Life, Seminarians from the Oratory in Toronto, and a group of middle school students from the GTA have also come to the Shrine.  Everyone takes part in the 14 Stations of the Cross led by a priest from the Oratory.  The stations follow a circular path up the side of a hill sheltered by trees.  At each station, the group which now numbers approximately 150, kneels and sings loudly from their booklets.  We conclude the stations with prayers for the Pope in order to receive a plenary indulgence. 

12:00pm   Everyone takes a much needed lunch break and we explore the many statues and the wooden tower that overlooks Georgian Bay.

Nice View from Wooden Tower at Shrine

500m Walk to Site of First Mass in Ontario

1:00pm     We drive to the concession road on the west side of Penetanguishene near the shores of Georgian Bay stopping by what looks like a muddy tractor lane on a farmer’s field next to a forest.  “Well, I guess this is it”, I say to John and Ginette Richie who are riding with me in my car.  We begin the small pilgrimage of about 500 meters to the site of the first mass in Ontario.  We arrive at the site and are taken in by a large stone cross and monument and a tall wooden cross next to it which looked to be about 30 feet high.  John Paul Meenan, a teacher at OLSW, informs us about the history behind the site.  It is named Carhagouha which is the Huron/Wendat name for the site of the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Ontario, Canada on August 12, 1615 by Fr. Joseph Le Caron (member of the Recollects order) in the presence of French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, and the Wendat.  Each year a Mass is celebrated to mark the anniversary.  We were amazed that such a holy and historic site was to be found down a farmer’s lane only marked with a small sign on a fence beside the road.  

Wooden Cross marking Site of First Mass

Cross and Monument Marking Site of First Mass

St. Louis: Site of Capture of Sts. Brebeuf and Lallemand

Mass at St. Ignace II with Fr. Tom Lynch

Conclusion:  What was truly remarkable about this pilgrimage for me was physically being at these holy sites and hearing the stories recounted.  I had a sense of the suffering and sacrifice of these saints and of their heroic bravery.  This strengthened my faith, but it also humbled me as I compared my trials and tribulations to those of the saints.  We did have some trials on this pilgrimage that had to be overcome, such as having a girl faint at the climax of the retelling of the torture and the bus running out of gas on the way back to Lindsay (it was an old fuel gauge).  Thankfully the girl was fine after given some water and we were able to restart the bus after getting some diesel from a nearby gas station.  These were small trials in the face of what these first saints of Canada underwent, but now I am thankful for the trials as well as the blessings.   

Brebeuf and Lallemand, pray for us that we may suffer with great courage and faith as you did.  May our sufferings, like yours, bring many others to Christ. Amen.

Rebels for Christ Youth, Wayside Academy and Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy

With the Martyr Shrine coming up fast I thought it would be good to give some history on the martyrdom of Brefbeuf and L’Alemant whose Martyrdom sites we will be visiting on the March 16 for the parish winter pilgrimage.  March 16 is the day they were captured in the year 1649!  Remember it’s not too late to reserve a  seat on the bus!  $20/adult and $10/student.  They are amazing saints and many miracles of healing have been attributed to their intercession.  Call me at the rectory at 705 325-4828 or email youth@stmaryslindsay.ca   This trip is open to all ages, but one of the sites does involve some hiking to get to.  The trip’s itinerary is listed below the account of their martyrdom. 

God bless,

Brad Waggoner

St. Mary’s Church Youth Coordinator 

Father Jean de Brebeuf and Father Gabriel L’Alemant had set out from our cabin, to go to a small Village, called St. Ignace, distant from our cabin about a short quarter of a league, to instruct the Savages and the new Christians of that Village. It was on the 16^thDay of March, in the morning, that we perceived a great fire at the place to which these two good fathers had gone. This fire made us very uneasy; we did not know whether it were enemies, or if the fire had caught in some of the huts of the village. The Reverend Father Paul Ragueneau, our Superior, immediately resolved to send someone to learn what might be the cause. But no sooner had we formed the design of going there to see, than we perceived several savages on the road, coming straight toward us. We all thought it was the Iroquois who were coming to attack us; but having considered them more closely, we perceived that they were Hurons who were fleeing from the fight, and who had escaped from the combat. These poor savages caused great pity in us. They were all covered with wounds. One had his head fractured; another his arm broken; another had an arrow in his eye; another had his hand cut off by a blow from a hatchet. In fine, the day was passed in receiving into our cabins all these poor wounded people, and in looking with compassion toward the fire, and the place where were those two good Fathers. We saw the fire and the barbarians, but we could not see anything of the two Fathers.

       This is what these savages told us of the taking of the Village of St. Ignace, and about Fathers Jean de Brebeuf and Gabriel L’Alemant:     

The Iroquois came, to the number of twelve hundred men; took our village, and seized Father Brebeuf and his companion; and set fire to all the huts. They proceeded to vent their rage on those two Fathers, for they took them both and stripped them entirely naked, and fastened each to a post. They tied both of their hands together . They tore the nails from the fingers. They beat them with a shower of blows from cudgels, on the shoulders, the loins, the belly, the legs and the face ?there being no part of their body which did not endure this torment.

The savages told us further, that, although Father de Brebeuf was overwhelmed under the weight of these blows, he did not cease continually to speak of God, and to encourage all the new Christians who were captives like himself to suffer well, that they might die well, in order to go in company with him to Paradise. While the good Father was thus encouraging these good people, a wretched Huron renegade, – who had remained a captive with the Iroquois, and whom Father de Brebeuf had formerly instructed and baptized, – hearing him speak of  Paradise and Holy Baptism, was irritated, and said to him, “Echon,? that is Father de Brebeuf’s name in Huron,?thou sayest that Baptism and the sufferings of this life lead straight to Paradise; thou wilt go soon, for I am going to baptize thee, and to make thee suffer well, in order to go the sooner to thy Paradise.?The barbarian, having said that, took a kettle full of boiling water, which he poured over his body three different times, in derision of Holy baptism. And, each time that he baptized him in this manner, the barbarian said to him, with bitter sarcasm, “Go to Heaven, for thou art well baptized.?After that, they made him suffer several other torments. The 1^st was to make hatchets red-hot, and to apply them to the loins and under the armpits. They made a collar of these red-hot hatchets, and put it on the neck of this good Father. This is the fashion in which I have seen the collar made for other prisoners:

They make six hatchets red-hot, take a large withe of green wood, pass the 6 hatchets over the large end of the withe, take the two ends together, and then put it over the neck of the sufferer. I have seen no torment which more moved me to compassion than that. For you see a man, bound naked to a post, who, having this collar on his neck, cannot tell what posture to take. For, if he lean forward, those above his shoulders weigh the more on him; if he lean back, those on his stomach make him suffer the same torment; if he keep erect, without leaning to one side or the other, the burning hatchets, applied equally on both sides, give him a double torture.

       After that they put on him a belt of bark, full of pitch and resin, and set fire to it, which roasted his whole body. During all these torments, Father de Brebeuf endured like a rock, insensible to fire and flames, which astonished all the bloodthirsty wretches who tormented him. His zeal was so great that he preached continually to these infidels, to try to convert them. His executioners were enraged against him for constantly speaking to them of God and of their conversions. To prevent him from speaking more, they cut off his tongue, and both his upper and lower lips. After that, they set themselves to strip the flesh from his legs, thighs and arms to the very bone; and then put it to roast before his eyes, in order to eat it.

       While they tormented him in this manner, those wretches derided him, saying, “Thou seest plainly that thee as a friend, since we shall be the cause of thy Eternal happiness; thank us, then, for these good offices which we render thee, – for, the more thou shalt suffer, the more will thy God reward thee.?/p>

         Those butchers, seeing that the good Father began to grow weak, made him sit down on the ground; and one of them, taking a knife, cut off the skin covering his skull. Another one of those barbarians, seeing that the good Father would soon die, made an opening in the upper part of his chest, and tore out his heart, which he roasted and ate. Others came to drink his blood, still warm, which they drank with both hands, – saying that Father de Brebeuf had been very courageous to endure so much pain as they had given him, and that, by drinking his blood, they would become courageous like him.

       This is what we learned of the Martyrdom and blessed death of Father Jean de Brebeuf, by several Christian savages worthy of belief, who had been constantly present from the time the good Father was taken until his death. These good Christians were prisoners to the Iroquois, who were taking them into their country to be put to death. But our good God granted them the favor of enabling them to escape by the way; and they came to us to recount all that I have set down in writing.

       Father de Brebeuf was captured on the 16^thday of March, in the morning, with Father L’Alemant, in the year 1649. Father de Brebeuf died the same day as his capture, about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Those barbarians threw the remains of his body into the fire; but the fat which still remained on his body extinguished the fire, and he was not consumed.

        I do not doubt that all I have just related is true, and I would seal it with my blood; for I have seen the same treatment given to Iroquois prisoners whom the Huron savages had taken in war, with the exception of the boiling water, which I have not seen poured on any one.

        I am about to describe to you truly what I saw of the Martyrdom and of the blessed Deaths of Father Jean de Brebeuf and of Father Gabriel L’Alemant. On the next morning, when we had assurance of the departure of the enemy, we went to the spot to seek for the remains of their bodies, to the place where their lives had been taken. We found them both, but a little apart from each other. They were brought to our cabin, and laid uncovered upon the bark of trees, – where I examined them at leisure, for more than two hours, to see if what the savages had told us of their martyrdom and death were true. I examined first the Body of Father de Brebeuf, which was pitiful to see, as well as that of Father L’Alemant. Father de Brebeuf had his legs, thighs and arms stripped of flesh to the very bone; I saw and touched a large number of great blisters, which he had on several place on his body, from the boiling water which these barbarians had poured over him in mockery of Holy Baptism. I saw and touched the wound from a belt of bark, full of pitch and resin, which roasted his whole body. I saw and touched the marks of burns from the Collar of hatchets placed on his shoulders and stomach. I saw and touched his two lips, which they had cut off because he spoke constantly of God while they made him suffer.

        I saw and touched all parts of his body, which had received more than two hundred blows from a stick: I saw and touched   the top of his scalped head: I saw and touched the opening which these barbarians had made to tear out his heart.

        In fine, I saw and touched all the wounds of his body, as the savages had told and declared to us: we buried these precious Relics on Sunday, the 21^st day of March, 1649, with much Consolation.

         I had the happiness of carrying them to the grave, and of burying them with those of Father Gabriel L’Alemant. When we left the country of the Hurons, we raised both bodies out of the ground, and set them to boil in strong lye. All the bones were well-scraped and the care of drying them was given to me. I put them every day into a little oven which we had, made of clay, after having heated it slightly, and when in a state to be packed, they were separately enveloped in silk stuff. Then they were put into two small chests, and we brought them to Quebec, where they are held in great veneration.

        It is not a Doctor of the Sorbonne who has composed this, as you may easily see; it is a relic from the Iroquois, and a person who has lived more than thought, – who is, and shall ever be,

                                                                   Sir,

                                  Your Very Humble and very obedient servant,

                                                     CHRISTOPHE REGNAUT 

Martyrs’ Shrine Itinerary 2010

TUESDAY, MARCH 16^TH, 2010

7:45 am Wayside Students Gather at Wayside Academy

8:00 am   Departure from Wayside Academy (Peterborough, ON)

8:45 am   Lindsay Group Gather at St. Mary’s Church Parking Lot (Bus arrives with Wayside Students and Teachers at St. Mary’s Church)

9:00 am   Departure from St. Mary’s Church Parking Lot (Lindsay, ON)

11:00am   Arrive at Martyrs’ Shrine – Stations of the Cross with Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy (Midland, ON)

12:00pm   Lunch at Shrine (pack a lunch to bring with you)

1:00 pm     Walk to the site of the first Mass in Ontario

2:30 pm     St. Louis, the site of the capture of the martyrs

3:45 pm     St. Ignace, Mass at the site of the martyrdom

5:00 pm     Departure from St. Ignace   

5:30 pm     Dinner at Montana’s Cookhouse (Orillia, ON)

8:00 pm   Lindsay Group Return to St. Mary’s Church (Lindsay, ON) (Wayside Group remain on bus and continue on to Wayside Academy.)

8:45 pm   Wayside Students Return to Wayside Academy (Peterborough, ON)

• This pilgrimage involves a lot of walking/hiking
• Wear winter boots (they may have snow)
• Layer your clothing and pack extra socks
• Weather forecast calls for a high of 2 degrees!!
• Please bring a lunch with you.
• The trip is $20/person which covers round trip by bus.  $10 student discount ($10/student).
• Want to reserve a spot on the bus? Call Brad Waggoner at 705-324-4828 or email youth@stmaryslindsay.ca

                When I began working as a youth coordinator in October last year at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Lindsay, I didn’t know what to expect or what I was in for.  I graduated from teachers’ college in May, but decided not to go into teaching right away.  I am only young once, I thought, and youth find it easier to relate to me and I feel more like one of the pack.  I can teach the rest of my life and teaching jobs are sparse right now.  Also, as a youth coordinator I am still in the classrooms at least one day a week which is good for acquiring teaching experience.

                I started this job with the expectation to expect anything and my head is still spinning.  Youth ministry was not really in existence at St. Mary’s Church before I began in October.  It is almost more than a full time job at parishes as large as St. Mary’s and is an impossible task for pastors to minister to the youth while juggling the other non-stop responsibilities.  This is an unavoidable outcome with many parishes understaffed by priests.  Many priests are working past their retirement or are assigned to multiple parishes because there are not enough of them to go around. 

                What is the present solution?  To hire qualified youth coordinators willing to take direction from pastors on how to get the youth more involved in the Church.  Many youth already know that Christ has won the battle and have been waiting to take more of an active role in the mission of the Church.

                My second day of working at St. Mary’s, Fr. Tom Lynch (the pastor at St. Mary’s) invited me to the school mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Lindsay.  As the students began piling into the gym (over 600 in total), Fr. Tom approached me and asked me if I would introduce myself after communion.  I agreed and quickly began jotting down what I was going to say before the mass began.  When it was time, I shakily approached the pulpit.  I had trouble getting the words out, but I was able to introduced myself and explain a couple of the events that we had planned.  I thought after, “Well, it was good to get that over with right from the start because I never liked waiting anxiously anyway.”  I later learned that this was to be a once a month event, but the first time is always the worst and now, thankfully, I am more interested in reaching the students than in mastering my nerves. 

                I have found that such presentations are a good way to reach students who are practicing their faith, but who may not have had the opportunity to get involved in Catholic youth events.  I began making announcements after communion at St. Mary’s Church and making connections with youth as they exited the church after mass.  Some youth would immediately approach me and ask about a certain event.  These youth were usually what you could call the “diehards” because this is just the opportunity they had been waiting for to get involved.  I would introduce myself and get their email.  For other youth, Fr. Tom or I would have to do the approaching.   This did not always pay off, but occasionally it did and these youth would sometimes attend an event and find out that Catholic youth events are fun.

                Events and strategies that have worked so far to attract youth in Lindsay (even though my experience is limited and I am still learning, sometimes the hard way) are as follows:

1. I have found that the youth like to work together as a team towards a certain end or goal.  World Youth Day Fundraisers, notably, the pancake brunch fundraisers after Sunday masses, have been profitable and well attended by parish and youth.   
2. There is not a lot to do in a town the size of Lindsay.  Getting the word out at the schools that there is a youth event such as a sports night have increased attendance.   Sports nights have not exhausted the youth’s prayer endurance, but they give the youth an opportunity for healthy recreation and Christian fellowship. 
3. Many youth have wanted to volunteer their time in the ministry and I realize that I can’t do it all on my own.  I routinely give the youth tasks such as creating and hanging posters.  This helps them realize that they are a part of a larger mission and church community and makes them feel good about themselves.
4. Some youth have not returned, but I haven’t stopped inviting them.  I’ve found that personal emails and phone calls work the best and show that I care.  There will always be a constant turn around with new faces coming and going, but I do not get discouraged and continue to reach out to new members. 
5. I am usually in a school at least one day a week making presentations.  At times I look like a nervous idiot, but the students are getting to know me and relationships are starting to develop with opportunities for evangelization.  School ministry that has worked so far is setting up Catholic club at Fleming College, making presentations to grade 7-12 classes on World Youth Day, etc., and having Canada’s National EvangelizationTeam (NET) present to local schools.  NET is highly trained team of Catholic young people who travel across Canada ministering to youth through personal testimony, praise and worship music, drama, games, and leading prayer and reflection.  NET presented to St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Lindsay and to the grade 7’s and 8’s from fivelocal Catholic schools in January.  The students NET presented to, many who are usually shy about their faith, are still talking about their amazing experience with NET and how it inspired them.  Shortly after the NET presentation to the grade 7’s and 8’s, we had a record turnout of about 21 youth attend the monthly sports night.  This increase in numbers, I think, can be attributed to the positive impact NET has had on these students in their faith journey.          
6. We had a youth midnight mass on Christmas Eve with young people as readers, choir singers, Eucharistic ministers, altar servers, and decorators.  The youth took pride in their role, so we will continue to try to include the youth in liturgical celebration. 
7. I have found that making connections with other youth groups such as Young Adult Catholics (YAC) in Peterborough means that I do not have to plan every event and it is a good way for the youth to make Catholic connections.  It’s a small world (especially the Catholic world) and as we work together we will draw others to Christ through our example of love. 

I am still new to this job and am not always sure where Christ is leading us, but I am excited about the seeds that have be scattered so far and am looking forward to what Jesus has in store for us next.  Jesus says, “What is impossible for man is possible for God.”  I am now really beginning to believe these words, thanks be to God!

After much voting, deliberation, and with Fr. Tom’s approval the youth of St. Mary’s Church have come to a concensus on a name for the youth group!  Being Catholic in today’s society is counter-cultural and as a Catholic youth you really have to fight the tide of secular influence at school, in your workplace, and even sometimes in your own home.  Also, Jesus preached through his words and actions a way of living that was revolutionary to the norms and customs of the world at that time.  For these reasons, the Catholic Youth of St. Mary’s with Fr. Tom’s approval have chosen the name “Rebels for Christ” for the name of the Catholic youth group at St. Mary’s Church.  We are presently working on a logo to accompany the name and are open to any design ideas from the parish. 

God bless Everyone and don’t forget to drop you empty beer, wine, and liquor bottles and cans off at the rectory to support our World Youth Day youth!

Brad Waggoner (St. Mary’s Church Youth Coordinator)