hermit brother: A St. Noel Chabanel Chaplet, Jesuit Martyr of North America

Saturday, March 10, 2012

A St. Noel Chabanel Chaplet, Jesuit Martyr of North America

^{A St. Noel Chabanel Chaplet, Jesuit Martyr of North America

Three Our Fathers, three Hail Marys, and three Glorias in worship of our Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; the Trinity for whom Saint Noel Chabanel gave his life to God in obedience as a missionary priest, that the aboriginal peoples of North America might come to know our Saviour Jesus Christ and live forever in Him.}

"Of the eight Canadian martyrs, he is the only one who had no flair for the study of languages. A brilliant teacher of rhetoric in France, he felt an inexpressible loathing for the ways and customs of the Indians. "Never, for all that," writes Father Paul Ragueneau, "would he break away from the Cross on which God had placed him; never did he ask that he might come down from it. On the contrary, in order to bind himself to it more inviolably, he obliged himself, by a vow, to remain there till death, so that he might die upon the Cross."

The Relation for 1650 has preserved for us the wording of this heroic vow*:

"Jesus Christ, my Saviour, who by a wonderful dipensation of your fatherly providence have willed that I, although completely unworthy, should be a helper of your holy apostles in this vineyard of the Hurons; impelled by the desire to fulfill the purposes of the Holy Spirit..., in the presence of the Most Holy Sacrament of your Body and Precious Blood, the tabernacle of God among men, vow perpetual stability in this mission of the Hurons, provided this be in conformity with the will of the superiors of the Society in my regard. I implore you, therefore, O my Saviour, to accept me as a perpetual servant of this mission and grant that I may be worthy of such sublime service. Amen.**

~ Loving Father in Heaven, I give my whole life in total obedience to Your will.

~ Your intentions. ~ Father, that you may be better known and loved. ^{3 x Our Father}

^{~ Jesus, that you may be better known and loved.}

^{3 x Hail Mary}

^{~Holy Spirit, that you may be better known and loved.
3 x Glory Be

~ Take Lord all my liberty. Receive my memory, my understanding, my whole will; all that I have and possess. You have given all to me, I return it all to you. Do with me as you will. Amen.***}

^{~ Holy Martyr St. Noel Chabanel, please pray for us.

+ Sign of the Cross}

^{~Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.****}

* - Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

** - Roustang, F. "Jesuit Missionaries to North America". Ignatius Press, 2006. P. 390.

*** - The Suscipe.

**** - "For the greater glory of God" - Jesuit motto.