April 17 Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Patron Saint of Environmentalists

Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by the Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. She was orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight, she was raised by her uncle, an Mohawk chief. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary.

She was shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Unable to understand her new found religion zeal, members of the tribe often chastised her, which she took as a testament to her faith. Kateri exercised physical mortification as a route to sanctity. She occasionally put thorns upon her sleeping mat and lay on them, while praying for the conversion and forgiveness of her kinsmen. Piercing the body to draw blood was a traditional practice of the Hurons, Iroquois, as well as the Mohawks. Kateri believed that offering her blood was in imitation of Christ’s crucifixion. She changed this practice to stepping on burning coals when her close friend and confessor, Marie Therese, expressed her disapproval.

Because she was persecuted by her Native American kin, which included threats to her life, she fled through 200 miles of wilderness to the established community of Native American Christians in Kahnawake, Quebec. She took a vow of chastity in 1679. On April 17, 1680, Kateri died at the age of 24.

Known for spirituality and austere lifestyle. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. First Native American proposed for canonization, her cause was started in 1884. An international association of Native American Catholics and those in ministry with them, was named for her.