Jean de Brébeuf is a patron saint of Canada, a title bestowed upon the 17th century Jesuit missionary by Pope Pius XII on Oct. 16, 1940. Brébeuf had previously been canonized as one of North America’s first saints by Pope Pius XI on June 29, 1930. A New York Times account of the latter event described him as the “Ajax of the mission” who stood out for his “giant frame” and as a “man of noble birth, of vigorous passions tamed by religion.”