Today's Saint story is a special gift for my little niece, Nora Kateri, who is very ill. Nora was baptized on October 21, 2012, the same day that St. Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized.
Tekakwitha was born to a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk father who followed his tribe's traditional religion. Her native name translates to "She who bumps into things." She was orphaned at the age of 4 when a smallpox epidemic took the lives of her parents and infant brother. Tekakwitha also had suffered the disease and was left with smallpox scars and poor eyesight. She was adopted and raised by her uncle, chief of the Turtle Clan.
The Mohawk had a turbulent relationship with the French and their Jesuit missionaries. The Jesuits established a mission with the Mohawk, so Tekakwitha had some exposure to Christianity, but her uncle discouraged her from having much to do with them. By the time she was 17, her aunts began to be concerned about her lack of interest in marriage. Although she was punished with ridicule, harsh workloads and threats, she continued to resist marriage.
When she was 18, Tekakwitha meet Jesuit Father Jacques de Lamberville and told him of her desire to become a Christian. He began to teach her the catechism. She was baptized on Easter Sunday 1676 and given the name Catherine for St. Catherine of Sienna. Kateri is the Mohawk form of the name. She remained in her village another 6 months, but the other Mohawk were suspicious of her conversion and accused her of sorcery. De Lamberville encouraged her to move to the Christian Indian village of Kahnawake. There she spent the last 2 1/2 years of her life as a consecrated virgin, attending mass and vespers every dayand caring for the sick and the aged.
St. Kateri's feast day is July 14.
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