July 14 + Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Born in 1656, Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. Her mother was an Algonquin, who was captured by the Mohawks and given as a wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations.

When Kateri was four, she lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the "Blackrobes" (the Jesuit missionaries) but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. Kateri was moved by the words of three missionaries who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction.

Kateri was known as a skilled worker, who was diligent and patient. However, she refused to marry. When her adoptive parents proposed a suitor to her, she refused to entertain the proposal. They punished her by giving her more work to do, but she did not give in. Instead, she remained quiet and diligent.

At age 19, Kateri finally got the courage to take the step of converting to Catholicism. She was baptized with the name Kateri Catherine on Easter Sunday. Her name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took from St. Catherine of Siena. But now she would be treated as a slave and because she would not work on Sunday, Kateri received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.

She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, Kateri stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Native American village in Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.

For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity, and in strenuous penance. At 23, Kateri took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for a Native American woman whose future depended on being married.

Kateri was very devout and was known for her steadfast devotion. She was also very sickly. Her practices of self-mortification and denial likely contributed to her poor health. Sadly, just five years after her conversion, she became ill and passed away at age 24. Witnesses said that after her death, her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips.