The latest in our “Saints of New York” series highlights the October 19 feast of Saint Isaac Jogues and the North American Martyrs. At the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs in Auriesville, these 17th-century Jesuit missionaries endured capture, torture, and death, offering their lives in witness to Christ. Their steadfast love of the Eucharist and their forgiveness of persecutors planted the seeds of the Catholic faith in this region.

Centuries later, the shrine remains a place of prayer, pilgrimage, and conversion, reminding the Church that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians and that their sacrifice still inspires the faithful today.