Philippe Pierson

Born at Ath, Hainaut (Belgium), 4 January, 1642; died at Lorette, Quebec, 1688. At the age of eighteen he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tournai, and pursued his studies at Louvain, Lille, and Douay. He was an instructor at Armentières and Bethune before he went to Canada in 1666, where he taught grammar in the college at Quebec, and presented a successful Latin play on the Passion of Our Lord . After studying theology for two years he was ordained in 1669, then worked among the Indians at Prairie de la Madeleine and Sillery. From 1673 to 1683 he did excellent work by spreading Christianity among the Hurons of the Makinac mission. In a letter from St. Ignace he described how his church increased in numbers and grew strong in faith. Later, from 1683 he was a missionary among the Sioux west of Lake Superior, and remained as such until his death.