Saint of the day July 14: Saint Catherine Tekakwitha. Catholic Saints

Every July 14, the Catholic Church in the United States celebrates Saint Catherine (Kateri) Tekakwitha, the first redskin saint and, therefore, the first woman belonging to the indigenous peoples of North America to reach the altars. Catherine was declared “Patron Saint of nature and ecology” along with Saint Francis of Assisi.

In the rest of the world his holiday is celebrated on April 17.

Victim of the disease

Kateri Tekakwitha was born in Ossernenon (now Auriesville), New York (United States), in 1656. Her mother was a Christian belonging to the Algonquian tribe, who had been captured by the Iroquois – members of the confederacy of the five Native American nations. and later freed by a Mohawk tribal chief, who would become her husband and Kateri’s father.

At only four years old, Kateri is left an orphan. Her parents and her brother die from a smallpox epidemic. Kateri was also infected, but unlike her family, she managed to survive. Unfortunately, even overcoming the disease, Kateri was left with serious consequences: her face was disfigured and her eyesight was seriously damaged. Without immediate family, the saint was left in the care of her uncles.

When she turned 11, Kateri learned about the Christian faith thanks to the Jesuit missionaries who came to her town accompanying the Mohican deputies who would sign peace with the French settlers.

Rejected by everyone, loved by Christ

Although she accepted the faith early, Kateri asked to be baptized only when she was 20 years old. Because she became a Christian she had to face opposition from her family and suffer rejection from her people. The hostility of her people was such that she had to flee and integrate into the Christian communities of Canada. Pursued to kill her, she walked about 320 km (200 miles) through the forest and mountains, until she was able to reach Sault Ste. Marie (Michigan), a Christian town that welcomed her in 1677, located near from Montreal.

Away from her homeland, “Catalina” – a Christian name she adopted – received her First Communion on Christmas night. That same day she consecrated herself to Jesus, taking a vow of chastity. Catalina wanted to respond with her total dedication to the infinite love that she received from heaven and that surpassed anything she had known before.

The beauty of creation

Catalina led a life of prayer, closeness to the Eucharist and hours kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament; He put himself at the service of his brothers in the faith and lived in harmony with nature – something he learned among his people, but which was fulfilled once he recognized that God Love, his creator, was also present there, in the beauty of the natural world.

The saint became a missionary, evangelizer of her contemporaries, at the same time as a fervent defender of the native peoples. Accompanied by the spiritual guidance of members of the Society of Jesus, Catherine spoke of God present in nature, but also of Christ and how He, being God, is present in the Eucharist.

‘The Lily of the Mohawks’

Saint Catherine Tekakwitha left for the Father’s House on April 17, 1680 at the age of 24, during Holy Week of that year. Her last words were: “Jesus, I love you!”

The young woman quickly aroused devotion and affection among Native Americans, as well as among Catholic European immigrants. For this reason, many began to make pilgrimages to Caughnawaga, where her remains were deposited.

The scars that the saint had on her face disappeared after her death and many of the sick who attended her funeral were miraculously cured. In 1884, Father Clarence Walworth had a monument erected in her honor next to Catherine’s grave, affectionately called ‘the lily of the Mohawks’.

Catherine Tekakwitha was beatified by Saint John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2012.

Dear Catherine (Kateri), intercede for the people of North America and all of America!