Kateri Tekakwitha

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Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
The oldest known portrait of Kateri Tekakwitha, painted after her death by Father Chauchetière
Born	1656, Ossernenon, Iroquois Territory (Modern Auriesville, New York
Died	April 17, 1680, Kahnawake, Canada
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church (United States and Canada)
Beatified	June 22, 1980
Major shrine	St. Francis Xavier Church, Kahnawake, Quebec
Feast	July 14 (US)
Attributes	lily, turtle
Patronage	ecology
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Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced /ɡɔdeli deɡɔkwidɔ/, or GAH-day-lee Day-GAH-kwee-dah in Mohawk) (1656 – April 17, 1680), the daughter of a Mohawk warrior and a Catholic Algonquin woman, was born in the Mohawk fortress of Ossernenon near present-day Auriesville, New York. When she was 4, smallpox swept through Ossernenon, and Tekakwitha was left with unsightly scars and poor eyesight. The outbreak took the lives of her brother and both her parents. She was then adopted by her uncle, who was a chief of the Turtle-clan. As the adopted daughter of the chief, she was courted by many of the warriors looking for her hand in marriage. However, during this time she began taking interest in Christianity, which was taught to her by her mother.

In 1666, the Marquis Alexandre De Prouville de Tracy burned down Ossernenon. Kateri's clan then settled on the north side of the Mohawk River, near what is now Fonda, New York. While living here, at the age of 20 years old, Tekakwitha was converted and baptized on Easter Sunday, April 18, 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit. At her baptism, she took the name "Kateri", a Mohawk pronunciation of "Catherine". Unable to understand her zeal, members of the tribe often chastised her, which she took as a testament to her faith.

Because she was persecuted by her Indian kin, which even resulted in threats on her life, she fled to an established community of Native American Christians located in Kahnawake, Canada where she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, and care for the sick and aged. In 1679, she took a vow of chastity as in the Catholic expression of Consecrated virginity. A year later, Kateri died at the age of 24.

She is called "The Lily of the Mohawks," the "Mohawk Maiden," the "Pure and Tender Lily," and the "Fairest Flower among True Men." ^[1]

1 Veneration
2 In literature
3 Canonization Prayer
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Veneration

Statue of Kateri Tekakwitha in front of Cathedral of St. Francis, Santa Fe, New Mexico

According to eyewitness accounts, Kateri's scars vanished at the time of her death revealing a woman of immense beauty. It has been claimed that at her funeral many of the ill who attended were healed on that day.^{[citation needed]} It is also held that she appeared to two different individuals in the weeks following her death.^[2]

The process of her canonization began in 1884. She was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII on January 3, 1943. She was beatified June 22, 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and as such she is properly referred to as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha within the Roman Catholic Church. She is the first Native American to be so honored, and as such she holds a special place of devotion among the Native/Aboriginal Catholics of North America. Devotion to Blessed Kateri is clearly manifest in at least 3 national shrines in the United States alone, including the National Kateri Shrine in Fonda, New York, the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, New York, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. This year, she has been featured among four other saints (St. Joseph, St. Junipero Serra, and St. Francis of Assisi) in a flagship work by Spanish artisans, behind the altar of Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano Orange County, California: the Grand Retablo, a newly installed work standing over forty feet high.^[3]^[4]

Her full canonization is currently awaiting a verified miracle. Her feast day in the United States is celebrated on July 14. Kateri was for some time after her death considered an honorary (though unofficial) patroness of Canada, Montreal, and Native Americans. Fifty years after her death a Convent for Native American nuns was opened in Mexico, whose residents pray daily for her canonization.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] In literature

Kateri Tekakwitha figures prominently as a character in fiction by Leonard Cohen (Beautiful Losers) and William Vollmann (Fathers and Crows).

Nancy Shoemaker's article "Kateri Tekakwitha's Tortuous Path to Sainthood," from Negotiators of Change: Historical Perspectives on Native American Women, links Tekakwitha's role with the history of women in North America.

[edit] Canonization Prayer

God, who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech You, the favor we beg through her intercession, that this Young Lover of Jesus and of His Cross may soon be counted among the Saints of Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us.

IMPRIMATUR:

Most Rev. Bernard Hubert, Bishop of Saint Jean de Québec

Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard, Bishop of Albany, New York

[edit] See also

"Consecrated Life" - Catechism of the Catholic Church
New Monasticism
Catherine of Siena after whom Bl. Kateri took her name.

[edit] References

^ Bunson, Margaret and Stephen, "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks," Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions brochure, pg.1
^ Father Pierre Cholenec's biography of the Kateri Tekakwitha and her details of her apparitions [1]
^ IGNATIN, HEATHER Retablo draws crowds at Mission Basilica Orange County Register, April 19, 2007
^ [www.missionsjc.com/pdf/press/Press2007Retablo.pdf Mission’s Grand Retablo en Route to San Juan Capistrano, Installation expected March 19] Mission San Juan Capistrano press release, Feb. 9, 2007