SEBASTIAN RÂLE

Homily of Rev. Vincent A. Lapomarda, S. J.
Preached at the Dedication of the Plaque at St. Sebastian Church, Madison, Maine, on 23 August 1999

The details of the life of Sebastian Râle can be summarized very briefly.  A native of Pontarlier, France, he was baptized on 28 January 1652 and joined the Society of Jesus on 24 September 1675.   He came to America on 13 October  1689 and, after spending some time with the native Americans in Illinois (1692-95) and at Becancour (1705-11) in Canada, he lived most of his life among the Abenakis of what is now the State of Maine.  This was a period when England and France were engaged in a struggle for the control of North America.  In that struggle, which was a religious as well as a political conflict, Father Râle incurred the wrath of the English who placed a price on his head because he kept the native Americans loyal to the French centered in Quebec, as they maintained a defensive perimeter of forts on the rivers between New England and New France.  Determined to stand by his flock, the native Americans of the Kennebec River Valley, and to defend their rights while caring for their pastoral needs and nurturing their religious beliefs and practices, Râle was cut down at his mission in Norridgewock, Maine, on 23 August 1724, as he defended his Abenaki flock with his life.  This caused his enemies throughout the region to rejoice at the death of this most famous Jesuit in colonial New England.

Over the 275 years since his death, Father Râle’s memory has been
esteemed by many people in every generation.  In itself, this is a remarkable indication of his stature in the history of American Catholicism.  While he was not included in the list of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America raised to the altar earlier in this century because they had been restricted to the martyrs of the seventeenth century, he was on the list of 116 American martyrs which the American bishops submitted to Rome on 23 September 1941.  Although World War II thwarted the development of their cause, Pope Pius XII himself praised it as a worthy one.  Today, given the reputation for holiness of Sebastian Râle during his own life as well as throughout the many years since his martyrdom, we know that his cause for beatification is alive and well.

In the evaluation of any true martyr, theologians find that three conditions are required: (1) a person must have risked his life to the point of death; (2) this death must have been inflicted in hatred of the victim’s religion; and (3) this same death must have been voluntarily embraced by the victim in defense of one’s religious beliefs and practices.  In the case of Sebastian Râle, there is no doubt within the Catholic community (and even outside of it), from the time of his death up to the present that all three conditions have been fulfilled by his martyrdom.

"Given this anniversary of the martyred Jesuit, I would like to memorialize it by reading excerpts from The Jesuit Relations (vol. 67, pp. 231-147) of the letter written by Pierre Joseph de La Chasse, Superior of the Jesuit Missions of New France, on 29 October 1724, sixty-seven days after Father Râle’s saintly martyrdom.  It is the earliest account that we have of his martyrdom.  In the words of his latest biographer, Mary R. Calvert: "This letter is the only eulogy we have of Sebastian Rale, and is a moving tribute to his years of unselfish devotion to his Abenaki flock.

"In the deep grief that we are experiencing from the loss of one of our oldest missionaries, it is a grateful consolation to us that he should have been the victim of his own love, and of his zeal to maintain the faith in the hearts of his neophytes . . .

"Father Rasles, the missionary of the Abenakis, had become very odious to the English.  As they were convinced that his endeavors to confirm the native Americans in the faith constituted the greatest obstacle to their plan of usurping the territory of the native Americans, they put a price on his head; and more than once they had attempted to abduct him, or to take his life.  At last they have succeeded in gratifying their passion of hatred, and in ridding themselves of the apostolic man; but, at the same time, they have procured for him a glorious death, which was ever the object of his desire, --- for we know that long ago he aspired to the happiness of sacrificing his life for his flock.

"After many acts of hostility had been committed on both sides by the two nations, a little army of Englishmen and their native American allies, numbering eleven hundred men, unexpectedly came to attack the village of Norridgewock. . . . At that time there were only fifty warriors in the village.  At the first noose of the muskets, they tumultuously seized their weapons, ad went out of their cabins to oppose the enemy.  Their design was not rashly to meet the onset of so many combatants, but to further the flight of the women and the children, and give them time to gain the other side of the river, which was not yet occupied by the English.

"Father Rasles, warned by the clamor and the tumult of the danger which was menacing his neophytes, promptly left his house and fearlessly appeared before the enemy. He expected by his presence either to stop their first efforts, or, at least, to draw their attention to himself alone, and at the expense of his life to procure the safety of his flock.

"As soon as they perceived the missionary, a general shout was raised which was followed by a storm of musket-shots that was poured upon him.
He dropped dead at the foot of a large cross that he had erected in the midst of the village, in order to announce the public profession that was made therein of adoring a crucified God.  Seven native Americans, who were around him and exposing their lives to guard that of their father, were killed by his side.

"The death of the shepherd dismayed the flock; the native Americans took to flight and crossed the river, part of them by fording, and part by swimming.  They were exposed to all the fury of their enemies, until the moment when they retreated into the woods which are on the other side of the river.  There they were gathered, to the number of a hundred and fifty.  From more than two thousand gunshots that had been fired at them only thirty persons were killed, including the women and children; and fourteen were wounded.  The English did not attempt to pursue the fugitives; they were content with pillaging and burning the village; they set fire to the church, after a base profanation of the sacred vessels and of the adorable Body of Jesus Christ.

"The precipitate retreat of the enemy permitted the return of the Norridgewocks to the village.  The very next day they visited the wreck of their cabins, while the women, on their part, sought for roots and plants suitable for treating the wounded.  Their first care was to weep over the body of their holy missionary; they found it pierced by hundreds of bullets, the scalp torn off, the skull broken by blows from a hatchet, the mouth and the eyes filled with mud, the bones of the legs broken, and all the members mutilated.  This sort of inhumanity, practiced on a body deprived of feeling and of life, can scarcely be attributed to any one but to the savage allies of the English.

"After the devout Christians of Norridgewock had washed and kissed many times the honored remains of their father, they buried him in the very place where, the night before, he had celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, --- that is, in the place where the altar had stood before the burning of the church.

"By such a precious death did the apostolic man finish, on the 23rd of August in this year, a course of thirty-seven years spent in the arduous labors of this mission.  He was in the sixty-seventh year of his life . . . .

"Father Rasles joined to the talents which make an excellent missionary, the virtues which the evangelical ministry demands . . . We were surprised as his facility and his perseverance in learning the different tongues of the native Americans; there was not one upon this continent of which he had not some smattering. . . .  From the time of his arrival in Canada his character had ever been consistent; he was always firm and resolute, severe with himself, but tender and compassionate toward others . . . .

"Three years ago, by order of Monsieur our Gouvernor, I made a tour of Acadia.  I conversing with Father Rasles, I represented to him that in case war should be declared against the native Americans, he would run a risk of his life; that, as his village was only fifteen leagues from the English forts, he would be exposed to their first forays; that his preservation was necessary to his flock; and that he must take measures for the safety of his life.  My measures are taken, he replied in a firm voice: God has confided to me this flock, and I shall follow its fate, only too happy to be sacrificed for it.  He often repeated the same thing to his neophytes, that he might strengthen their constancy in the faith.  We have realized but too well, they themselves said to me, that that dear Father spoke to us out of the abundance of his heart; we saw him face death with a tranquil and serene countenance, and expose himself unassisted to the fury of the enemy, --- hindering their first attempts, so that we might have time to escape from the danger and preserve our lives.

"As a price had been set on his head, and various attempts had been made to abduct him, the native Americans last spring proposed to take him farther into the interior, toward Quebec, where he would be secure from the dangers with which his life was menaced.  What idea, then have you of me?  He replied with an air of indignation, do you take me for a base deserter?  Alas!  What would become of your faith if I should abandon you?  Your salvation is dearer to me than my life.

"He was indefatigable in the exercises of his devotion . . .  Some native American families, who have very recently come from Orange, told me with tears in their eyes that they were indebted to him for their conversion to Christianity; and that the instructions which he had given them when they received Baptism from him, about thirty years ago, could not be effaced from their minds, --- his words were so efficacious, and left so deep traces in the hearts of those who heard him. . . .

"Notwithstanding the continual occupations of his ministry, he never omitted the sacred exercises which are observed in our houses.  He rose and made his prayer at the prescribed hour.  He never neglected the eight days of annual retreat; he enjoined upon himself to make it in the first days of Lent, which is the time when the Savior entered the desert.  If a person does not fix a time in the year for these sacred exercises, said he to me one day, occupations succeed each other, and, after many delays, he runs the risk of not finding leisure to perform them.

"Religious poverty appeared in his whole person, in his furniture, in his living, in his garments.  In a spirit of mortification he forbade himself the use of wine, even when he was among Frenchmen; his ordinary food was porridge made of Indian cornmeal. . . .  Care was taken to send him from Quebec the necessary provisions for his subsistence.  I am ashamed, he wrote to me, of the care that you  make of me; a missionary born to suffer ought not to be so well treated.

"He did not permit any one to lend him a helping hand in his most ordinary needs; he always waited upon himself.  He cultivated his own garden, he made ready his own firewood, his cabin, and his sagamité; he mended his torn garment, seeking in a spirit of poverty to make them last as long a time as possible.  The cassock which he had on when he was killed seemed so worn out and in such poor condition to those who had seized it, that they did not deign to take it for their own use as they had at first designed.  They threw it again upon his body, and it was sent to us at Quebec.

"In the same degree that he treated himself harshly, was he compassionate and charitable toward others.  He had nothing of his own, and all that he received he immediately distributed to his poor neophytes.  Consequently, the greater part of them showed at his death signs of deeper grief than if they had lost their nearest relatives. . . .

". . . his virtues, of which New France has been for so many years witness, had won for him the respect and affection of Frenchmen and native Americans.

"He is, in consequence, universally regretted.  No one doubts that he was sacrificed through hatred to his ministry and to his zeal in establishing the true faith in the hearts of the native Americans.  This is the opinion of . . . de Bellemont, Superior of the Seminary of Saint Sulpice at Montreal.  When I asked from him the customary suffrages for the deceased , because of our interchange of prayers,  he replied to me, using the well-known words of Saint Augustine, that it was doing injustice to a Martyr to pray for him, --- Injuriam facit Martyri qui orat pro eo.

 "May it please the Lord that his blood, shed for such a righteous cause, may fertilize these unbelieving lands which have been so often watered with the blood of the Gospel workers who have preceded us; that it may render them fruitful in devout Christians, and that the zeal of apostolic men yet to come may be stimulated to gather the abundant harvest that is being presented to them by so many peoples still buried in the shadow of death!"

"So much for the eulogy of Father La Chasse’s letter.  While those words were from one who was the Jesuit Superior of the region 275 years ago, I am happy to extend to everyone here present the greetings of Rev. Robert J. Levens, S. J., the Jesuit Superior of New England today.  In a letter to the Jesuits of New England, under date of 17 August 1999, Father Levens said: "Last June, I wrote to Bishop Joseph Gerry, of the Diocese of Portland.  As the local bishop, he would have a role to play in any process that might lead to the beatification and canonization of Father Rasle.  In my letter, I inquired of Bishop Joseph whether he believes that there are sufficient signs of devotion in Main to warrant the Diocese to pursue the cause of Father Rasle.  While I have not yet received a response from him, I will continue to pursue the matter prudently."

In light of the words of the current Jesuit Provincial of New England, I would like to conclude this homily by having us all together join in reciting the prayer which I have composed for the beatification of Sebastian Râle.  You can find it on the reverse side of the card depicting the painting of his martyrdom by Mother Margaret Mary Nealis, R. S. C. J.  This card has been made available through the kindness of Father Jon C. Martin who will bless the plaque that we are dedicating today.

"Eternal Father, grant that Sebastian Râle, martyr of the faith among the Abenakis of Maine, will be raised to the altar of the blessed.  Through his intercession, we pray that your divine favor will be manifest among us so that we may  return praise to your glory.  We ask this through through Our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit One God world without end.  Amen."