St. Rene Goupil was born at St. Martin Du Bois, France in 1608. He was the second to five children born to Luce Provost and Hypolite Goupil. Rene had three brothers and one sister. Rene came from a locally significant family who provided for his education which was quite a rarity in the 17th Century. The Goupil family knew how to read and write and had developed professional skills. Rene's father was a surgeon who taught him some skills before he died when Rene was only twelve.
Rene entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Paris in 1639 at the age of 31 and was dismissed three months later, presumably because of a hearing defect. Quite possibly Rene's desire to become a surgeon and a religious brother both stem from the same source: a desire to love and serve God in his impoverished neighbors which is the essence of Christianity. In 1640 he sailed from France to come to the New World where he landed at Sillery, Canada (four miles west of Quebec) because he wanted to work among the American Indians.
Rene worked as a handyman for the missionaries and as a surgeon for the Indians. Rene was a type of surgeon who knew the properties of certain medicines, how to promote healing in wounds, and the art of bleeding and dressings. Even more important, he was seen as a companion to the poor. Both the Indians and the French were welcomed at the hospital. Rene was given the care of dressing the sick and wounded, which he did with great skill, seeing our Lord in his patients with great affection and love.
All during July 1640, Rene worked as a "jack of all trades." In fact his work was described as the lowest, most vile jobs around the Jesuit house. He did menial tasks, while at the same time, helping in the hospital. Rene did not "hire" on as a domestic for the Jesuits but offered himself to work for them, gratuitously. Then in August 1642, he volunteered to be chief surgeon for the most dangerous Jesuit mission nearly 900 miles from Quebec.
On the trip west, he was soon captured, taken prisoner by the Iroquois, mangled and tortured repeatedly. From there he was carried to Lake Champlain, Lake George and finally to the main Iroquois village near Albany, New York, on the banks of the Mohawk River. There he was exhibited as a trophy of war.
Just before his death on September 29, 1642, he took vows to become a Jesuit Brother and act as a missionary. One day Rene began to trace the sign of the cross on an Iroquois child's forehead and to teach the child to make the sign of the cross. This was witnessed by Isaac Jogues and took place near present day Albany, New York.
Recalling the sad incident a year later, Isaac Jogues wrote about Rene that "he was not more than thirty-four years of age but was a man of unusual simplicity and innocence of life, of invincible patience, and very conformable to the divine will".
St. Rene was canonized along with his companions, Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, and five others by Pope Pius XI in 1930. The shrine of these first North American Martyrs is in Auriesville, New York. St Rene is the patron of anesthetists.
The Ghost of Mohawk Valley
The Life and Times of st. Rene Goupil 1608-1642 by
William Breault, SJ Landmark Enterprieses 10324
Newton Way, Rancho Cordova, Ca. 95670
Pastor: Father Thomas Kasputis
Pastor Emeritus: Father Peter Paurazas
Deacon: Rev. Mr. Sal Lema
Phone: 773-229-8523
