Picture: Les Pères jésuites, Québec · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Noël Chabanel
Jesuit missionary and martyr (1613-1649)
SaintResearchedFranceSociety of JesusPost-1588
Feast: 19 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
2 February 1613
verified
Died
8 December 1649
verified
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
—
not on record
Who they were
Noël Chabanel entered the Jesuits at seventeen and taught rhetoric, esteemed for virtue and learning. In 1643 he was sent to Canada and worked among the Hurons with St Charles Garnier.
He felt a strong repugnance for the life of the mission, and bound himself by vow never to leave it; he kept his vow to the end. He was killed by a renegade Huron on 8 December 1649.
The miracles
As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary who vowed to stay where he found it hardest, and died there.
Connected on this site
- Canadian Martyrs Saint“René Goupil was killed in 1642 at Ossernenon; Isaac Jogues and Jean de Lalande near today's Auriesville on 18 October 1647; Antoine Daniel in 1648; and Jean de Brébeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier and Noël Chabanel in 1649, during the war that destroyed the Huron nation and its missions.” — this site's research
- Charles Garnier Saint“In 1643 he was sent to Canada and worked among the Hurons with St Charles Garnier.” — this site's research
- Jean de Brébeuf Saint“On 16 March 1649 Brébeuf was killed by the Iroquois, as were Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier and Noël Chabanel that year, about 200 km north of Toronto.” — this site's research
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - Noël Chabanel
- Wikidata Q1848680 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Noël Chabanel (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.