Specials

Every April 17th, the Church celebrates the Feast of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint of the United States. She is considered the patroness of nature and ecology, alongside Saint Francis of Assisi. Her last words were, “Jesus, I love you!”
Kateri was born in Auriesville, New York, in 1656. Her mother was a Christian member of the Algonquin tribe, who had been captured by the Iroquois and freed by Kateri's father, a Mohawk tribal chief.
When she was four, her parents and brother died from a smallpox epidemic. As a result of this disease, she was left with a disfigured face, severely damaged eyesight, and was cared for by her uncles.
At age 11, Kateri was introduced to the Christian faith when Jesuit missionaries visited her village, accompanying Mohican delegates to sign peace with the French.
Though she quickly accepted the faith, she requested baptism only at the age of 20, facing opposition from her family and rejection from her community. She had to flee her village to reach Christian communities in Canada.
Later, she received her First Communion on Christmas Day and took a vow of chastity. Throughout her short life, she maintained a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
She departed for the Father’s House on April 17, 1680, during Holy Week of that year, at just 24 years old. Upon her death, the community immediately developed a great devotion to her, and many pilgrims visited her tomb in Caughnawaga.
Tradition holds that the scars on her face vanished after her death and that many sick people were healed at her funeral.
In 1884, Father Clarence Walworth had a monument erected beside her grave, and she became known as the “Lily of the Mohawks.”
Saint Kateri was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in October 2012.
While her feast day is celebrated on July 14th in the United States, the rest of the world, according to the martyrology, remembers Saint Kateri Tekakwitha today.