Énemond Massé

Énemond Massé, SJ (3 August 1575 – 12 May 1646) was a French Jesuit missionary, one of the first Jesuits sent to New France.

Life Nesmes Massé was born 3 August 1575 at Lyon. He was the eldest son of François and Philippe Bica Massé. His father was a baker. On 22 August 1595 he entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Avignon, taking the name Énemond.

After completing his novitiate he taught at the Collège of Tournon from 1597 to 1599, and was also assistant to the bursar. He completed his theological studies at the Collège of Dole in 1602. Sometime after his ordination to the priesthood in 1603, he went to the Collège in Lyon, to serve as minister or bursar. In 1609 he left the province of Lyon to join Father Pierre Coton, the confessor to Henri IV, at the court. They left from Dieppe and arrived in Port-Royal (Acadia) (present-day Nova Scotia, Canada) on 22 May 1611. Massé was seasick for much of the voyage. Massé displayed a practical common sense along with carpentry skills which earned him the nickname of Père Utile (Father Useful). When the settlement was close to starvation, Massé constructed a boat and was able to catch an abundance of fish to sustain the settlers.

When the mission failed, he and Biard established a new mission at the present Bar Harbor, Maine, which was soon after destroyed by the English.

Unlike many of the Jesuits who went to New France in the seventeenth century, Massé left few written accounts of any significance. Biard and Marc Lescarbot, writing on behalf of Jean Biencourt and Charles Biencourt, mention his experiences at Port Royal, Acadia, present day Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.