Blessed Denis of the Nativity, the Navigator Who Became a Carmelite Martyr

Who was Blessed Denis of the Nativity?

Blessed Denis of the Nativity was born Pierre Berthelot in the Norman port of Honfleur and spent his youth at sea. He became one of the finest pilots and chartmakers in the Portuguese East, then gave it all up at thirty-five to become a barefoot Carmelite friar at Goa. Three years later, newly ordained, he sailed with an embassy to the Sultan of Aceh in Sumatra as its chaplain, pilot and interpreter. He and his companion, Blessed Redemptus of the Cross, were seized, pressed to deny Christ, and put to death on November 29, 1638. Pope Leo XIII beatified them in 1900.

The life of Blessed Denis of the Nativity

A sailor from Honfleur

Pierre Berthelot was born in Honfleur on December 12, 1600. He went to sea young, sailing to Spain, England and America, and in 1619 he went out to the Indies. There, as the Carmelite biographer Valentine Macca writes, "as cosmographer and first pilot of the kings of France and of Portugal, he distinguished himself by his valor and genius." His Maritime Tables, sea charts drawn with great skill, are still kept in the British Library in London among the Sloane manuscripts (MS 197).

From pilot to friar

At Goa in 1635, on the advice of his spiritual director, the Carmelite Father Philip of the Holy Trinity, he asked to enter the Discalced Carmelites. He made his profession on Christmas Day 1636, taking the name Denis (Dionysius) of the Nativity, and he was ordained a priest on August 24, 1638. Father Philip, who knew him well and later worked for his cause, testified that he was an example of virtue to the whole community, given to deep contemplation, and that more than once during prayer he was seen surrounded by a heavenly light.

The embassy to Aceh

That same year the Portuguese viceroy at Goa, Dom Pedro da Silva, sent Francisco de Sousa de Castro as ambassador to the Sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. The ambassador wanted Father Denis with him as chaplain, as an expert seaman and as someone who spoke Malay. Denis chose as his companion Brother Redemptus of the Cross, born Thomas Rodríguez da Cunha in Portugal around 1598, who had made his profession as a Carmelite lay brother at Goa in 1615.

The embassy left Goa on September 25, 1638, and reached Aceh on October 25. The welcome turned out to be false. The envoys were soon made prisoners, and the two Carmelites were pressed harder than anyone to give up the Catholic faith and accept Islam. In prison, Macca writes, Denis "deprived himself even of necessities in his charity for others, whom he strengthened by his words, his help and his example."

Martyrdom

All were condemned to death. On November 29, 1638, Redemptus was among the first to die. Denis asked to be killed last, so that he could encourage the others to the end. The Roman Martyrology says that the martyrs were killed on the seashore with arrows and axes; Macca's biography says Denis died from a blow of a sword to the head.

The miracles of Blessed Denis of the Nativity

As martyrs, Denis and Redemptus needed no approved miracle for their beatification. The heavenly light seen around Denis at prayer is reported by Father Philip of the Holy Trinity, an eyewitness and the superior who knew him best. Favors asked through his intercession in Honfleur and among the Carmelites are reported graces.

Why Blessed Denis of the Nativity is honored

No formal patronage has been assigned to him. Sailors and navigators, and especially the people of Honfleur, look to him as one of their own, a seaman who brought his skill and his courage into the service of Christ. Missionaries in Asia honor him with the Carmelite martyrs. See more on our patron saints page.

Symbols of Blessed Denis of the Nativity in art

• The Discalced Carmelite habit: brown tunic and scapular with the white mantle.
• A crucifix: held up before his captors and his fellow prisoners.
• The palm: the martyr's victory.
• A sword or axe: the instruments of his death.
• A compass, dividers or sea chart: his first career as pilot and cosmographer, as in Courboin's engraving on this page.

He is usually shown with Redemptus, the lay brother, beside him.

Feast day and prayer

We keep the feast of Blessed Denis and Blessed Redemptus on November 29, the day of their martyrdom, as both branches of the Carmelite Order do. Find others of November on our feast days page.

We have not found a traditional English prayer to Blessed Denis of the Nativity to reprint here. Let us ask him to pray for sailors and everyone who works at sea, for Christians held captive for their faith, and for all who, like him, are called to leave a successful career to follow Christ more closely.