Father Nicolas Viel, O.M.R., (died 25 June 1625) was a French

Recollect The Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...

missionary to the Hurons from 1623 to 1625.

Biography

Among the first missionaries sent by France to its colony, Viel traveled to Huron territory, arriving there with fellow Recollect Father

Joseph Le Caron Joseph Le Caron, O.M.R., (c. 1586 near Paris – March 29, 1632 in Gisors, France) was one of the four pioneer missionaries of Canada (together with Denis Jamet, Jean Dolbeau, and Pacifique du Plessis, all Recollect friars), and was the first ...

in 1623. He was studying the language and collecting material to add to Le Caron's dictionary. After almost two years, in May 1625, Viel decided to return to Quebec in the company of a band of

Hurons The Wyandot people (also Wyandotte, Wendat, Waⁿdát, or Huron) are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of the present-day United States and Canada. Their Wyandot language belongs to the Iroquoian language family. In Canada, ...

, with the intention of making a few days' retreat and then returning to his missions. It is known that he never reached Quebec, but was drowned in the last chute of the Riviere des Prairies, which from that time bears the name of

Sault-au-Récollet Sault-au-Récollet (, '' Recollet Rapids'') is a neighbourhood in Montreal. It is located in the eastern edge of the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, bordering the Rivière des Prairies. Autoroute 19 connects Sault-au-Récollet to Laval. The n ...

. The neophyte Auhaitsique, whom he had instructed and baptized, met with the same fate.

Sagard Sagard is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the n ...

and Le Clercq give accounts of Father Viel's missionary work, and of his death. Their information regarding his death was obtained after the fact and through interpreters. The canoe(s) apparently attempted to shoot a rapid that would usually have been portaged. Suspicions that the drowning was intentional appear to be weakly based on the survival of the accompanying Hurons, and tensions between the Hurons, the Iroquois, and the French. They have, nonetheless, led to repeated assertions that Viel and his companion were murdered. French Jesuit priest

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

could only conclude "Whether there was some miscalculation in the measures they took or whether it was brought about by design the canoe capsized." The rapids were certainly dangerous enough to explain the outcome: Sagard wrote that "Time and again we ran the risk of losing our lives and of being swallowed up in the falls and whirlpools as were, since then, good Father Nicholas and a young boy Francis, our disciple." Viel is sometimes referred to as the first Canadian martyr, which can be seen as technically correct given that the

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' (; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a reference work that summarizes the Catholic Church's doctrine. It was Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 ...

states "Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death." A painting by Georges Delfosse in Cathédrale Marie-Reine-du-Monde,

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, shows Viel holding aloft a cross as the canoe is about to capsize. The scene, in which one person holds a broken paddle and another has one arm around Viel, can be ambiguously interpreted. The designation of martyr has been strongly opposed by those who see it as supporting the belief that Viel and Auhaitsique were murdered by the Hurons. According to the records of the Recollets, Father Viel was buried in St. Charles's Chapel,

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, 25 June 1625.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viel, Nicolas 1625 deaths French Roman Catholic missionaries 17th-century French Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada Year of birth uncertain Recollects Roman Catholic missionaries in New France People from Coutances Deaths by drowning in Canada French Franciscans Franciscan missionaries