Christ along the Kennebec

Jesuit vows are taken before the
Blessed Sacrament

In 1608, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Enemond Masse of the Society of Jesus wrote to his provincial having just taken vows. As a member of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Masse had just taken a fourth vow of special obedience “to go without subterfuge or excuse, as far as in us lies, to whatsoever provinces they may choose to send us--whether they are pleased to send us among the Turks or any other infidels, even those who live in the region called the Indies, or among any heretics whatever.” On this feast day, Fr. Masse wrote to his provincial begging to be sent to the Canadian mission.

With all my heart I offer these vows taken so recently to God and to you, Father. Freed by them from natural ties, I am able very joyfully to sacrifice myself as a hymn of praise not only by my voice but also by my actions even to death, if necessary – if, “among the Gentile to voice his glory; in all the tribes his wondrous deeds” (Ps 95:3) – I may be a missionary in Canada. “Therefore my heart is glad, my soul exults: and so my body, too, will rest secure” (Ps 15:9). May this, then, be my joy next March. I not only wish but implore this favor from you, Reverend Father. Please include me, unworthy as I am, in your prayers and your Holy Masses.

Your son and servant in Christ,

St. Ignatius sending St. Francis
Xavier to the missions

Enemond Masse

But while Fr. Masse would be sent to New France, it was not to be to Canada. Rather, God deigned to send Him to a different land, to Acadia, to a land that one day would be dedicated to the very lady on whose feast day he wrote. Basing themselves out of Port Royal in Nova Scotia, Fr. Masse and his companion, Fr. Pierre Biard, would come to be some of the first missionaries to sow the seeds of grace on Maine soil.

                The project had been several years in the works. As soon as the land was discovered by Jacques Cartier and they knew there were souls to be saved, the Jesuits longed to go there. Until 1611 there was simply no opportunity. There was no permanent French settlement in Acadia in which they could base themselves and there no money with which to fund the project. Until now. A man by the name of Jean Biancourt was founding a settlement in Port Royal and a lady by the name of Madame de Guerchville was providing all the necessary funds for the Society of Jesus to send priests to preach the gospel in this new land. Thus Fr. Pierre Biard and Fr. Enemond Masse sailed from Dieppe, France on January 26^th, 1611.

                There were many souls in New France who did not yet know Christ. Christ had called these two Jesuits to bring these souls to Him. Christ longed to love and be loved by these souls, to be able to guide them and heal them. Yet for as many souls as there were to be brought to Christ, there were just as many obstacles, the first being the language barrier. M. de Biancourt had learned the native language well enough to be able to trade with them and was willing to act as an interpreter. But when it came to speaking about things of religion, Biancourt was at a loss. The truth of the matter was that the natives had no words to describe abstract or immaterial realities.

Good, strong, red, black, large, hard, they will repeat to you in their jargon; goodness, strength, redness, blackness – they do not know what they are. And as to all the virtues you may enumerate to them, wisdom, fidelity, justice, mercy, gratitude, piety, and others, these are not found among them at all except as expressed in the words happy, tender love, good heart.

Even learning how to express ideas that did have a corresponding term in the native language required a great deal of work and humility on the part of the two Jesuits. Some things could simply be pointed to and a name be provided. Other things required hours of signing and gesticulating before the natives understood what idea they were trying to communicate. Even then, after hours of getting laughed at for this ridiculous mime routine, they still often got the wrong word. Humble pie is a bitter dessert.

                In a situation like this, the two missionaries would have to rely on Christ to speak through them. As Fr Masse prayed, “Here I am; send me and make my words and my speech intelligible , so that I may not be a barbarian to those who hear me.” The two Fathers would go boldly wherever Christ called. They would labor to do whatever was necessary to make Him known and loved, but in the end, given their severe limitation, it would be Christ who would have to speak in spite of them.

                Thus when Biancourt was taking a trip up the Kennebec River to trade for winter provisions, Fr. Biard asked to accompany him. Not only did Biancourt’s crew need someone to minister to their spiritual needs, but it would be an opportunity to further learn the customs and language and the natives and so be able to better preach the gospel to them. The trip would prove to be a great adventure and whatever fruit it bore, it was clearly Christ’s work more than Fr. Biard’s.

Champlain's map of New France

                Having sailed from Port Royal, down the gulf of Maine and up the Kennebec, they were passing near what is now Bath. The trip had been a smooth one until now. Looking behind them they saw six Armouchiquois canoes bearing down on them. There were twenty four natives in total, all of them warriors, but while they gestured and maneuvered, they did not attack. “In short, they continued to come and go; they reconnoitered; they carefully noted our numbers, our cannon, our arms, everything; and when night called they camped upon the other bank of the river, if not out of reach, at least beyond the aim of our cannon.”

                That night was not a restful one for the French. They already knew that the natives across the river were suspicious of them and they did not know their intentions. Tensions were mounting. They could hear the natives singing and dancing across the river and could only imagine what that meant for them.

The Kennebec River

                When they started up the river the next day, their two native guides offered them a short cut. There was a fork in the Kennebec River coming up; if they turned right off into a branch of the river, in another hour or so they would reach Meteourmite, the great sagamore. He would have corn that he was willing to trade for. Still fearful of their pursuers, but anxious to done with their business, the crew agreed. Only a mile and a half down the river, the company came to a large lake (in what this author suspects was Naquasset Pond.) It was a dead end and their two guides were nowhere to be found.

                The crew was convinced they had fallen into a trap. Meteourmite was a sworn enemy of the English and for all they knew, perhaps of all foreigners. It didn’t help easy tensions when natives suddenly appeared out of the woods. It looked more and more to the crew like an ambush. Boarding their boats, the natives offered to guide them further up the river to Meteourmite. Not fully trusting them, but having no choice, the French agreed.

                When they arrived they found Meteourmite in full regalia, sitting in his wigwam surrounded by forty guards. It was a tense situation. Meteourmite, having had unpleasant dealings with the English in the past, was as skeptical of them as they were him. Biancourt was received politely and the trading discussion commenced. But of all those in Biancourt’s company, Fr. Biard was actually received warmly by the tribe.

A wigwam

As for me, I received that day the greater part of the welcome; for, as I was unarmed, the most honorable of them, turning their backs upon the soldiers, approached me with a thousand demonstrations of friendship. They led me to the largest wigwam of all; it contained fully eighty people.

The natives knew almost nothing about this priest. He did not speak their language and had never met them before. However, he was unarmed and unlike the rest of the crew came with peaceful intentions and they could they see that. With an audience of eighty people and without being able to speak the language at all, what could he say to them? All he could do was gesture in a way that pointed to Christ and Christ would have to take it from there.

When they had taken their places, I fell upon my knees and repeated My Pater, Ave, Credo, and some orisons; then pausing, my hosts, as if they had understood me perfectly, applauded after their fashion, crying Ho! ho! ho! I gave them some crosses and pictures explaining them as well as I could. They very willingly kissed them, made the sign of the Cross, and each one in his turn endeavored to present his children to me, so that I would bless them and give them something. Thus passed that visit, and another that I have since made.

Praying to the one true God in Latin, a language the natives had probably never heard, somehow seemed to communicate something of the faith to them. For some reason they trusted this priest. When he showed them crosses and religious article, they kissed them. When he showed them the sign of the cross, they imitated it. And even though Fr. Biard could not explain in detail what it was he was showing them, the grace of Christ was at work anyway.

The Penobscot River flowing into
Penobscot Bay

                Before returning to Port Royal, Biancourt had promised the natives there that he would stop at Pentegoet (present day Castine) to visit them. When they had gone about three leagues (9 miles) up the Penobscot, they came to the village. As Fr. Biard writes, “At the confluence of these two rivers there was the finest assemblage of Savages that I have yet seen. There were 80 canoes and a boat, 18 wigwams and about 300 people.” The French were on friendly terms with this tribe and so there was a warm welcome. Yet the welcome could not last forever. Members of the tribe were sick and as a priest, Fr. Biard had to care for them, both in body and in soul. He went around to each of the sick, and after reading from the Gospel placed a cross around their neck. The God who died on that cross out of love for them would care for them in their time of need.

                To the astonishment of every one present, Christ chose to work a miracle that day. Among the many natives Fr. Biard ministered to that day, one in particular had taken an especially bad turn. Fr. Biard describes the condition of this man:

Among others I found one stretched out, after their fashion, before the fire, wonder expressed in his eyes and face, great drops standing out upon forehead, scarcely able to speak, so severe the attack. They told me that he had been sick for four months and as it appeared, he could not last long. Now I do not know what his malady was; whether it only came intermittently or not I do not know.

As with all the natives, Fr. Biard prayed for him and placed one of the crosses around his neck. From there it was in God’s hands and Fr. Biard did not see him again for another two days. When he did, the change was astonishing.

The second day after that I saw him in our barque, well and happy, with his cross around his neck. He showed his gratitude to me by a cheerful smile and by taking my hand. I had no means of speaking to him, as the trading was then going on, and for this reason the deck was full of people and all the interpreters were busy. Truly I was very glad that the goodness of God was beginning to make these poor and abandoned people feel that in the sign of the holy and salutary Cross there was every good and every blessing.

Although Fr. Biard could barely speak the native language, Christ would speak for him. Without words but merely by praying for a sick man and placing a cross around his neck, Christ showed to the natives who He was and how much He loved them. Without words, since there was no interpreter available, that native showed his gratitude to Fr. Biard who had brought such graces to Him. Regardless of the obstacles, Christ would use servants to make Him known and loved. All was is in His hands.

Thus began the mission of Fr. Biard and Fr. Masse in Maine. Still Fr. Biard’s trip up the Kennebec and the Penobscot were transitory. He pointed the natives to Christ as best he could but only to return to the French settlement at Port Royal. A more permanent would have to be set up and it would be done on Mt. Desert Island, named after our holy Savior. We will continue with this story in the next post.