St. Jean de Brebeuf, the patron of our school, was a Jesuit priest born in France on March 25th, 1593. On March 16th, 1649, he bravely died at the hands of the Iroquois Indians near Midland, Ontario. On Thursday of this week, we, the first students of Brebeuf, will journey to the Martyrs' Shrine at Midland to pay our tribute to this noble Jesuit missionary after whom our school is named.

Who was this Brebeuf? From the size of his coffin discovered in 1956 at Fort Ste. Marie, we can conclude that he was a huge man well over six feet in height. The Huron Indians, with whom he worked, called him Echon, meaning "One who carries burdens." Physically he was a giant of a man.

Spiritually, he was also a giant of a man. Living in the midst of a very different culture, he never forgot his God, his faith, or his fellow man. When the day came for him to die for his God, his Christian faith, and the Huron Indians, he wrote one of the most amazing pages in the history of Christian martyrdom.

The Iroquois revered him as a symbol of all that was noblest and best in the Huron. Therefore, on the day of his torture they tried to make him cry out for mercy. If they could break this giant "Blackrobe" of the Hurons, they could humiliate the whole Huron nation.

Brebeuf was fastened to the torture stake. The hot coals beneath his feet began to burn his tender flesh. Iroquois knives delicately carved painful lines on his arms and legs. He didn't blink an eyelash. An opening was made in his wrist. A thin stick was pushed beneath the skin until it reached the elbow. Red hot tomahawk blades were placed around his neck. Still, Brebeuf showed no sign of pain. His Huron friends watched on proudly. The angry Iroquois torturers began to rage. They poured boiling hot water over his head in derision of Christian baptism. They punched him in the face.

Then, Brebeuf did something that stunned the Iroquois. He opened his mouth and began to preach about the Christian God. The Iroquois, who admired oratory only second to bravery, were beaten at their own game. They rushed out and cut out his tongue. Brebeuf looked at them and seemed to speak with his eyes. They cut out his eyes and stuffed hot coals in the sockets. Then, knowing they had been defeated by this giant Blackrobe, they cut out his heart and drank his blood to share in his bravery, nobility, and courage.

This, students of Brebeuf, is the man after whom our school is named.