Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be canonized a
Saint. She was born at Auriesville, New
York in 1656, near the place where the Jesuits St. Isaac Jogues and John de
Brebeuf had been martyred—tomahawked by Iroquois warriors just nine years
before.
Kateri’s mother was an Algonquin who had been baptized, but
she was taken captive by the Iroquois and given as a wife to the chief of the
Mohawk clan. Kateri was adopted by her
uncle who became the new chief when her parents and brother died in a smallpox
epidemic when she was four years old, though her face was permanently
disfigured and her eyesight impaired because of the disease.
Her uncle, the new chief, hated the coming presence of the
new Jesuit missionaries, but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty
with the French allowed their presence in villages with Christian
captives. Kateri however desired began
to study the catechism with the Jesuits.
She was baptized on Easter Sunday at the age of 19.
When she was 23, she took a vow of virginity, consecrating
herself to the Lord, but a celibate life was not held in high regard among the
Mohawks, and being the only devout Christian in her lodge, Kateri was subject
to constant abuse and insults. Because
she refused to work on Sundays, she was branded as lazy and the Indians made
fun of her Rosary.
On the advice of a priest, she fled the abuse and walked two
hundred miles to an Indian Mission village near Montreal. There she devoted herself to prayer and works
of charity and penance; dedicated to the Lord in all things, her sanctity blossomed. She is known as the Lily of the Mohawks.
Kateri herself said: “I am not my own; I have given myself
to Jesus. He must be my only love.” Her last words were, “Jesus, I love you.”
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized
by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter's Basilica on October 21, 2012.
At her canonization, Pope Benedict said, “Her greatest wish
was to know and to do what pleased God. She lived a life radiant with faith and
purity. Kateri impresses us by the
action of grace in her life in spite of the absence of external help…”
She is a model for all those who are rejected by their own
or are persecuted because of their fidelity to Jesus Christ. Despite this difficult cross,, God’s grace
thrived all the more in her.
We turn to her intercession seeking renewal for our country
and all the nations of North America, for the glory of God and salvation of
souls. St. Kateri Tekakwitha pray for
us.
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