Saturday 14 July 2018

# Saints

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Image: Kateri Tekakwitha – Oil Painting by Father Claude Chauchetière S.J. (1690)

The 14th of July is the feast day of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – April 17, 1680). She is also known as Lily of the Mohawks and was baptised with the Christian name of Catherine. She is the patron saint of patronage ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, loss of parents, people in exile, people ridiculed for their piety, Native Americans, Igorots, Cordilleras, Thomasites, Northern Luzon, Diocese of Bangued, Vicariate of Tabuk, Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe, Diocese of Baguio, and Philippines.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was born in what is today’s, New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, and her mother was converted to the Christian faith by Jesuit missionaries. A smallpox epidemic killed her entire family and at the age of four, she contracted the disease which left her partially blind, disfigured and crippled. Her uncle, who was against Christianity, raised her. Kateri was drawn to the Christian faith which the missionaries were evangelising near her village. She was baptised at the age of 20 and took the Christian name Catherine after Saint Catherine of Siena. Her uncle was opposed to her conversion and she was ostracised by her people. Since her life was in danger due to her conversion, a priest helped her to escape to Montreal, Canada to a French Jesuit mission. The journey was over 200 miles which she did on foot. She spent her life in prayer and penance and rejected marriage. She was known as a miracle worker and she died at the age of 24. In 1980 she was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II and was the first Native American saint when she was canonised in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

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