Feast: April 17 (Traditional),
Patroness: Native Americans, ecology, environment, exiles, and people ridiculed for their piety
Early Life and Baptism
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, New York), to a pagan Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother. Her mother had been baptized and taught her young daughter, in secret, the rudiments of the Christian Faith before dying in a smallpox epidemic when Kateri was about four. The disease left Kateri with damaged eyesight and a scarred face, and she was thereafter known as Tekakwitha, meaning “she who bumps into things” or “she who walks groping her way.”
Raised among her pagan kin, Kateri suffered greatly for her desire to live a pure and holy life. Though surrounded by superstition and cruelty, she remained gentle, modest, and contemplative. At the age of 20, despite opposition from her relatives, she received Holy Baptism from a Jesuit missionary, taking the name Catherine, after St. Catherine of Siena, whom she admired.
A Soul Set Apart
After her baptism, Kateri was ostracized by her tribe. She bore their insults and mistreatment with meekness and joy, uniting her sufferings to Christ Crucified. Fearing for her safety and desiring to live more fully the Christian life, she fled on foot to the Jesuit mission of Kahnawake (near Montreal, Canada), walking over 200 miles through wilderness and snow.
There, she grew in sanctity under the guidance of holy priests and native Christian women. She dedicated herself entirely to Christ, embracing virginity for the love of God—an extraordinary act among her people. Her life at the mission was one of fervent prayer, works of charity, severe mortification, and love for the Holy Eucharist.
Penitent and Mystic
Saint Kateri practiced great penance, often fasting, depriving herself of comfort, and even fashioning a bed of thorns in imitation of the saints. Though young, she possessed a mature understanding of the spiritual life, combining intense prayer with humble service. Her deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Crucifix, and Our Lady set her apart as a mystic soul. She would spend hours in church, absorbed in contemplation.
Shortly before her death, she made a private vow of virginity—an unheard-of act for a Native American woman of her time. Her confessor testified to her supernatural virtue, saying, “She had the holiness of a soul confirmed in grace.”
Holy Death and Legacy
At the young age of 24, worn out by sickness and mortification, Kateri Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, whispering with her last breath, “Jesus, Mary, I love You.” Witnesses attested that moments after her death, the deep scars on her face vanished, leaving her appearance radiant and beautiful—a sign of her purity and reward.
Miracles followed her death, and devotion to her spread first among the native converts and later throughout the Catholic world. She was declared Venerable in 1943, Beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1980, and Canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
Spiritual Reflection
Saint Kateri teaches us the power of purity, perseverance, and total devotion to Christ in a hostile world. She is a beacon of hope for all those who are mocked or misunderstood for their faith. In her virginity, her embrace of the Cross, and her mystical love of God, she reflects the early virgin martyrs of the Church.
“Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)