While
they had been unable to secure provisions for the winter, the trip to the
Armouchois had not been a total failure. They had established a decent rapport with
Meteourmite, the crew was safe and Fr. Biard had had the opportunity to care
for the sick and introduce souls to Christ. They were sailing back to Port
Royal and the ship was anchored in the Penobscot, off the coast of what is now
Castine. Fr. Biard had one purpose in coming to New France: to bring Christ to
souls who had never heard of Him. As his encounter with the Armouchois had
demonstrated fully, his inability to speak the language was not entirely
crippling but it certainly wasn’t helpful. Turning to Biancourt, Fr. Biard
asked him a question: would it be possible for him to go and live and with
Pontgrave for a time?
Pontgrave
(also known as Robert du Pont), was a young man who had fallen into disfavor
with Jean Biancourt and was imprisoned by him. Young Pontgrave escaped into the
woods and having nowhere else to go away from Biancourt, lived among the
Etechims as one of them. Living in exile away from the French settlement,
Pontgrave developed a firsthand knowledge and facility in native language and
customs. This was exactly the sort of teacher Fr. Biard so desperately needed.
What
is more, Pontgrave was greatly indebted to Fr. Biard. During their sojourn up the St. John River,
Fr. Biard learned from Biancourt that this young Frenchman was somewhere in
those woods. Not wanting to see any souls lost (since Pontgrave had no doubt
fallen into native religious practice as well), Fr. Biard asked that he be allowed
to go to Pontgrave and reconcile him to Biancourt. With Biancourt’s permission,
Fr. Biard went out in search of the lost sheep. By God’s Providence, he found
him.
The Lord brought
about a meeting between us. I spoke with him, and at last he confided himself
to me. I brought him to Sieur de Potrincourt; he [Pontgrave] did not repent of
having placed faith in me; peace was made, to the great joy of all, and next
day the young man, before receiving the holy Eucharist, of his own free will
begged the pardon of those who surrounded him, for his evil conduct.
Thus having been reconciled to Biancourt and his father
as well as to Jesus Christ Himself, Pontgrave owed a great debt to Fr. Biard. He
no longer had to live as a hunted man, alone among a foreign nation, afraid and
in hiding from his own people. Nor did he have to live with the guilt of his
crime any longer. All was now forgiven.
And so, at our
departure, they all begged me very earnestly, and particularly young du Pont
[Pontgrave], to come and see them and stay with them as long as I liked. I
promised to do so, and am only waiting for the opportunity. For in truth I love
these honest people with all my heart.
With the journey to Armouchois complete and the St. John
River on the way back to Port Royal, it seemed like the time was ripe to return
to Pontgrave. Fr. Biard hoped to learn the language of the natives from the
young man and begin to compose a “Canadian catechism,” so that he could begin
to teach these tribes the Faith.
For
Biancourt’s part, while officially reconciled to Pontgrave, the wounds were not
healed. Fr. Biard’s desire for Pontgrave’s company and assistance raised the
settler’s suspicions. Then answer came back: no. This was a great blow to the
missionary who had no other way by which to learn the native tongue.
Father Biard
endeavored to encourage him and even begged him, to send him to Pontgrave from that
place, which was near at hand, for the purpose of composing a Canadian
catechism, which had previously been agreed upon between them. To this request,
although most just, and although it certainly made no difference to him,
Biencourt would not consent, except under conditions which were both exceedingly
unjust and by no means in the power of the Father. Therefore he was disappointed
of the opportunity of learning the language of the natives, and was compelled to
lead an almost inactive existence in the fort, to his great vexation.
Fr.
Biard and Fr. Masse were bound to the Port Royal mission by their
circumstances. They did not know the native language and had no effective means
by which to learn it. Meanwhile, trust between themselves and the Biancourts
was breaking down. Madame de Guerchville, their patron, had supplanted the
Biancourts as proprietor of the settlement and while question of legal title
had nothing to do with the missionaries, they were nevertheless blamed.
It
was readily apparent that they could not stay in Port Royal and achieve the
mission for which they came. News of these impediments reached France and the
Queen herself intervened: the Jesuits were to have free reign in any part of
New France “either to study the language of the natives, or practice among the
Savages what we had already learned by our own right, and seeking the
permission of no man.” A ship, captained
by La Saussaye, was sent with all the necessary provisions and labor for founding
a colony of their own, in which they would be completely free to pursue the
mission. Additionally two other Jesuits were sent with the ship, Fr. Quintin
and Br. Gilbert du Thet.
When
the ship arrived in May of 1613, the Queen’s orders were shown to the
authorities at Port Royal and they sought to leave at once. The royal title for
this new mission was for Kadesquit on the Penobscot River (what is now Bangor,
Maine) but God had other plans in mind. Having left five days late due to
unfavorable winds, unfavorable weather soon threw the ship off course.
When we were to the
Southeast of the Island of Menauo, the weather changed, and there came upon the
sea such a dense fog that we could see no more by day than by night. We had
serious misgivings in this time of danger, because in this place there are
breakers and rocks, against which we were afraid of striking in the darkness;
the wind not permitting us to draw away and stand out to sea. We continued thus
two days and two nights, veering now to one side, now to the other, as God
inspired us. We were moved by our affliction to offer prayers and vows to God,
that he might be pleased to deliver us from the danger, and direct us to some
good place for his glory. In his goodness he hearkened to us, for when evening came
on we began to see stars, and by morning the fogs had all disappeared.
Unable to see or steer their own course, in constant
danger of running aground or crashing against rocks, the crew had to put their
complete and total trust in God. Divine Providence alone could get them through
this. They had to abandon complete control of the situation to Him since they
had no control of their own.
When
the fog lifted, they saw not the mouth of Penobscot nor the route to Kabesquit
but rather Mt. Desert Island.
We recognized that
we were opposite Mount Desert, an island which the Savages call Pemetiq. The
pilot turned to the Eastern shore of the island, and there located us in a
large and beautiful port, where we made our thanksgiving to God, raising a
Cross and singing to God his praises with the sacrifice of the holy Mass. We
called this place and port Saint Sauveur.
They claimed this land not for a king, but for the King
of Kings. Planting a Cross on Mt. Desert Island and naming the port for their
Lord and Savior, the missionaries put a spiritual stake in the ground: this
land and these souls belong to Christ, the same Christ who thirsts for them on
the Cross.
Still,
despite offering Mass and erecting a Cross, the missionaries had not yet
resolved to stay there. Yet again and again, the hand of Divine Providence
seemed to be at work. While the colonists quarreled about whether to settle at
Ste. Sauveur permanently or go on to Kabesquit, the natives signaled with smoke,
indicating that the colonists could go and find them should they need to. They
did.
While the Pilot of the ship
spoke with the natives, he mentioned that he had with him two Jesuits from Port
Royal. At this the natives perked up: they knew them. They had met Fr. Biard two
years back when he had travelled up the Penobscot with Biancourt. How could
they forget him? His prayers had helped to heal a man at death’s door.
After greeting them warmly, Fr.
Biard asked them for directions to Kabesquit. The reply came swiftly: “But if
you want to stay in these regions, why don’t you remain here with us, who have
truly as good and beautiful a place as Kadesquit?” Fr. Biard tried to insist
that he must get to Kadesquit, that he and his companions intended to live
there, but the natives insisted that he stay with them. Finally they pulled out
the trump card.
“For,” they said, “it is
necessary that you come since Asticou, our Sagamore, is sick unto death; and if
you don’t come he will die without baptism, and will not go to heaven. You will
be the cause of it, for he himself wishes very much to be baptized.” Fr. Biard
could not refuse this and so taking along with him Simon (the interpreter) and
Lietenant de la Mote, he followed the natives to their home where their
Sagamore was allegedly dying.
Asticou was indeed sick, but not
unto death. Still the trip was not a waste. Fr. Biard and his companions
surveyed the land. It was indeed beautiful and much better than what they would
find at Kabesquit. As they wandered through the woods, they heard a loud wail.
Their native companion informed them that cry indicated that someone had just
departed this life. But when they came to the village, a young boy informed
them that it was not that someone had died but that they were about to die. “Why
don’t you hurry there, so that perhaps you can administer baptism before they
die?”
The voice of that
boy, just as though sent from heaven, caused the Father and his companions to
run swiftly, and as they reached the rude dwellings, there appeared a great
crowd of Savages, drawn up in regular order, standing in the open air; and
among this mournful-looking company a father walked about, in whose arms a
delicate boy was dying. As the child struggled for breath, hastening towards
death, and weakly gasping, it tortured the unfortunate parent with grief and
sorrow. Moreover, at each gasp of the infant, the father wailed dreadfully, and
his lamentation was immediately answered by a howl from the gloomy throng of
Savages standing near.
Father Biard went
to the afflicted parent of the boy, and asked whether he might, with his
consent, baptize the dying child. The Savage, overcome by the depth of his
grief, could not utter a word; but his action showed, by placing the child in
the arms of the petitioner, what he desired. The Father asked for water, and
giving the child to La Motte to hold, who eagerly received it, he sprinkled it
with the saving waters, christened it Nicholas de la Motte, and formulating a
prayer, begged from God light for the Savages, that they might recognize the
immense blessings of the faith.
After this prayer
he took the infant from the hands of La Motte and gave it to its mother, who
was present; the mother immediately gave her breast to the child, who greedily
accepted [page 283] it, partook of the milk to satiety, and finally lived,
healthy and vigorous. In the meantime, the whole circle of Savages who had
stood about, struck by the marvelousness of the unusual occurrence, remained
motionless as stones, and stood silently in their tracks. Therefore, while they
were thus prepared in mind, our brother addressed to them such words as seemed
appropriate to the subject in hand; and when he had finished, bade them depart
to their own huts. As they, trembling and reverential, received his discourse
with the greatest respect, so when, the object of their gathering having been
accomplished, he ordered them to depart to their huts, they slipped away,
silently exhibiting this unusual obedience, quietly and quickly, each to his
own dwelling.
The
hand of Providence in guiding them to shore, in bringing them into contact with
natives they already knew, in land that was extremely favorable had already led
them to believe that perhaps God wanted them to stay in that place. With the miraculous
healing of this infant, there was no longer any doubt. They were where they
needed to be. God was working through them in this place, drawing these souls
to Himself. They pitched camp there and began to build their mission.
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