| Saint Antoine Daniel | |
|---|---|
| Jesuit, Missionary, Martyr | |
| Born | May 27, 1601 Dieppe, Normandy, France |
| Died | July 4, 1648 (aged 47) Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada |
| Canonized | June 29, 1930 by Pope Pius XI |
| Feast | October 19, September 26 |
Saint Antoine Daniel (27 May 1601 – 4 July 1648) was a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, and one of the eight Canadian Martyrs.[1]
Daniel was born at Dieppe, in Normandy. After two years' study of philosophy and one year of law, Daniel entered the Society of Jesus in Rouen on 1 October 1621. He was sent as a missionary to Canada. He was slain by the Iroquois at Teanaostaye, near what is now Hillsdale, Simcoe County, Ontario.
Daniel travelled to New France in 1633 and studied the Wendat (Huron) language. He was first stationed at Cape Breton (in what is now Nova Scotia), where his brother Captain Daniel had established a French fort in 1629. In 1634 he travelled to Wendake with Frs. Brébeuf and Daoust. For two years, in what is now Quebec, he had charge of a school for Indian boys, but with the exception of this period, he was connected with the mission at Ihonatiria, in Huron country, from July 1634, until his death fourteen years later.
He returned to Teanaostaye in 1648. Shortly thereafter, the Iroquois made a sudden attack on the mission while most of the Huron men were away.
On his return to Teanaostaye in July 1648, the village came under attack by Iroquois forces. Father Daniel did all in his power to aid his people. Before the palisades had been scaled he hurried to the chapel where the women, children, and old men were gathered, gave them general absolution and baptized the catechumens. Daniel himself made no attempt to escape, but is reported to have calmly advanced to meet the enemy.
Fr. Daniel, in an effort to cause a diversion, took up a cross and walked towards the advancing Iroquois. Seized with amazement the Iroquois halted for a moment, then recovering themselves they fired on him. Daniel's lifeless body was flung into the burning chapel. Many of the Huron did escape during this incident.
Daniel was the second to be martyred among the Jesuits sent to New France, and the first of the missionaries to the Hurons. Father Ragueneau, his superior, speaks of him in a letter to the Superior General of the Jesuits as "a truly remarkable man, humble, obedient, united with God, of never failing patience and indomitable courage in adversity" (Thwaites, tr. Relations, XXXIII, 253-269).
Daniel was canonized by Pope Pius XI on 29 June 1930.