St Jacques Frémin
Unlike his fellow French Jesuit missioners in 17th-century North America, Jacques Frémin (1628-91) avoided being murdered by unfriendly natives. Born in Rheims, he joined the Jesuits in 1646 and was sent to evangelize the Mohawk, Onodaga and Cayahoga peoples, tribes not known for their pacifism. Fermin is said to have made 10,000 converts through his station on Isle la Motte, in what is now Vermont.
St Longinus of Rome
Like his more famous namesake, the soldier who pierced Christ’s side at the Crucifixion, Longinus of Rome was also a Roman soldier. He is said to have been one of three legionaries (the other two were Martinian and Processus) assigned to guard St Paul and Saint Peter in Rome. According to legend, Paul converted all three of them and they all suffered martyrdom together in the Neronian persecution.