Apr 17, 2018

β›ͺ Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha,
Pray for us !
β›ͺ Saint of the Day : April 17

β›ͺ Other Names : β€’ Catherine Tekakwitha β€’ Lily of the Mohawks β€’ Tegakouita, Tegakwitha

β›ͺ Memorial :
β€’ 17 April
β€’ 14 July (United States)

β›ͺ Born : 1656 at Osserneon (Auriesville), Modern New York, USA

β›ͺ Died : 17 April 1680 at Caughnawaga, Canada 

β›ͺ Canonized :
β€’ 21 October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI β€’ The canonization miracle involved the cure of a boy suffering from a flesh-eating bacteria

β›ͺ Patronage :
β€’ Ecologists, environmentalists β€’ Ecology, environment β€’ Environmentalism β€’ Exiles β€’ Against the loss of parents β€’ Orphans β€’ People ridiculed for their piety β€’ Native Americans β€’ Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico

β›ͺ Symbols :
β€’ Lily β€’ Rosary β€’ Turtle

Kateri Tekakwitha or TekaouΓ―ta (baptised Catherine), known as the Lily of the Mohawks, first North American Aboriginal person elevated to sainthood (born in 1656 at Ossernenon in Iroquois country, now Auriesville, NY; died 17 April 1680 at the St. Francis Xavier Mission at Sault St. Louis, New France, now Kahnawake). 

Tekakwitha was born to a Mohawk father and Algonquin mother. She was orphaned in 1660 at the age of four when a smallpox epidemic wiped out most of her village, killing her parents and younger brother. The young Tekakwitha survived but was badly scarred and her eyesight was impaired.

In 1666, the French launched a punitive expedition against the Mohawks and destroyed Tekakwitha’s village. Her people then chose to move across the Mohawk River, to GandaouaguΓ©. In 1667, three Jesuit missionaries arrived and established the St. Pierre Mission.

Tekakwitha made friends with Father Jacques de Lamberville who was in charge of the mission. In 1675, she shared with him her desire to be baptized. Lamberville taught her the catechism and at Easter 1676, baptized her as Catherine. Tekakwitha was then 20 years old. The name given her was in honour of Catherine of Siena, a 15th century Italian mystic. Today, Kateri instead of Catherine is used to identify Tekakwitha due to the influence of 19th century romantic literature and the desire of biographers to give her a more Aboriginal sounding name.

Tekakwitha’s biographers, who contributed to the growth of her cult, insisted on the fact that, even before converting to Christianity, she was in disagreement with the way of life and values of the Mohawks. Her refusal of a number of marriage proposals and her desire to remain a virgin, both of which were contrary to her people’s customs, are used to support this argument.

Her baptism and subsequent first communion in 1677 made her the target of persecution in her village. With the help of Father Lamberville, Catherine, along with other converted Mohawks travelled several hundred kilometres to reach the St. Francis Xavier Mission at Sault St. Louis (today the Kahnawake reserve). There she joined a group of Christian Iroquois women (Haudenosaunee) who had chosen to renounce sexuality and marriage and who practiced mortification. Catherine submitted herself to severe physical discipline, fasting, flagellation and exposure to the pain of fire and cold.

On March 25 1679, the feast of the Annunciation, the Jesuits allowed Catherine, who had demonstrated exceptional piety, to take a vow of perpetual chastity in private. However, life was precarious in a period marked by wars and epidemics. Catherine, whose health was fragile, died on April 17 1680, following a long illness perhaps brought on by her excessive practices.

Claude ChauchetiΓ¨re (1645-1709), a young Jesuit, took to visiting Catherine’s bedside during the last weeks of her life. In his writings, he describes himself as being fascinated by Catherine’s calm and composed attitude to her approaching death. Even before she fell ill, her confessor, Father Pierre Cholenec (1641-1721), mentioned in a confidential letter to his superiors that Catherine was the β€œmost fervent” of all the young Iroquois women who practiced prayer and penitence. He also mentions a mysterious light that surrounded her during self-flagellation. The missionaries and Christian Iroquois appear to have been attributing spiritual powers to Catherine while she was still alive and her attitude towards death provided them with further confirmation.

In 1681, Father ChauchetiΓ¨re wrote a biography of Catherine and painted her portrait. In another biography, written by Father Cholenec in 1696, the author reports that 15 minutes after Catherine’s death the smallpox scars disappeared and her face became white and shone with beauty. For the Jesuits this was the first miracle and the birth of the legend of the Iroquois virgin, Catherine Tekakwitha.

On 3 January 1943, Catherine was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII. Following this Vatican recognition of her exemplary Christian practices, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 22 June 1980. This allowed her to be venerated publicly and her feast day, 17 April, was entered into the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church.

December 19 2011, Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged a miracle attributed to Catherine, that of healing a young boy in Washington State in 2006. The boy, Jake Finkbonner, had contracted necrotizing fasciitis; also know as β€œflesh eating disease”. On 21 October 2012, Catherine was elevated to sainthood and became the first North American Aboriginal person to be canonised.

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