Joseph Le Caron

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

Born around 1586, Le Caron took Holy Orders and served as chaplain and tutor to the Duke of Orléans, the future King Henry IV of France, and his son the Dauphin (later Louis XIII of France). When the King died, Le Caron renounced any ecclesiastical advancement and joined the Recollects, a reform branch of the Order of Friars Minor who followed a strict life of poverty, with whom he made his profession in 1611.

In 1615 Samuel de Champlain brought four Recollect friars to New France, including Father Le Caron, as missionaries to the Indians. On April 24, 1615, they sailed from Honfleur aboard the St. Étienne. Le Caron reached Canada on May 25 and immediately accompanied some fur-traders to Sault St. Louis. His intention was to meet the Huron traders there and go with them to their own country. After a short time he travelled to Quebec to provide himself with a portable altar kit. On June 24, 1615 he assisted Father Denis Jamet in saying the first Mass in Quebec, on the Île de Montréal.

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