Tekakwitha

O 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 Saint 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
her Saints by Holy Mother Church,
and that our hearts may be enkindled
with a stronger desire to
imitate her
innocense
and
faith.
Through the same
Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Imprimatur
Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard DD
Bishop of Albany

Born in Osserman (Auriesville) New

York, U. S. A. in 1656; died at

Coughnawaga, Canada, on April 17,

1680; declared venerable by Pope

Pius XII; feast day formerly April

17; Memorial in the United States.
Kateri (pronounced "Got-A-Lee")

was the daughter of a Christian

Algonquin woman who was captured

by the Iriquois and married to a

pagan Mohawk chieftain. Kateri was

orphaned when her family died

during a smallpox epidemic. The

disease also left her with a

pocked face and impaired eyesight,

yet she had inner vision that was

20/20.
When Kateri was converted and

baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques

de Lamberville, a Jesuit

missionary, she was shunned by her

relatives and became the subject

of abuse to the point that she was

afraid for her life due to their

disapproval of her new religion.

she ran away from the village in

1677 and traveled through 200

miles of wilderness to the

christian Indian village of Sault

-Sainte- Marie near Montreal,

Canada.
Kateri made her First Communion on

Christmas that year and took a vow

of chastity in 1679. She became

know for her spirituality and

austere lifestyle, and miracles

were attributed to her. She was

called the "Lily of the Mohawks".
After her death at Coughnawaga,

Canada, her grave became a

pilgrimage site and place of many

miracles for Christian Native

Americans and french colonists.

She was the first Native American

proposed for canonization.