If today, July 14, were not a Sunday, it would be the feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who is notable because she is the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was born in 1656, in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in what is now upstate New York. Her mother was an Algonquin, who was captured by the Mohawks and who took a Mohawk chief for her husband.

As a child, Tekakwitha contracted smallpox which left her face scarred and caused her great suffering and humiliation. She was often seen wearing a blanket to hide her face. Sadly, her entire family died during the smallpox outbreak, so Tekakwitha was raised by her uncle, the chief of a Mohawk clan.

Tekakwitha was a skilled worker, diligent and patient. However, she refused to marry, which was expected of the young women of the tribe. When her adoptive parents proposed a suitor to her, she refused to entertain the proposal. They punished her by giving her more work to do, but she did not give in. Instead, she remained quiet and diligent. Eventually, they were forced to relent and accept that she had no interest in marriage.

At age 19, Tekakwitha converted to Catholicism. She took a vow of chastity and pledged to marry only Jesus Christ. Her decision was very unpopular with her adoptive parents and their neighbors. Some of her neighbors started rumors of sorcery. To avoid persecution from her tribe, she traveled to a Christian native community south of Montreal.

Kateri was very devout and was known for extreme piety, like sleeping on thorns. She was also very sickly, so her practices of self-mortification and denial may not have helped her health. Sadly, just five years after her conversion to Catholicism, she became ill and died at age 24, on April 17, 1680.

Her baptismal name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took in honor of St. Catherine of Siena.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012. She is the patroness of ecology and the environment, people in exile, and Native Americans. Let us ask the intercession of St. Kateri for all indigenous people, that they may be treated with dignity and respect, and have security, prosperity, and hope!  Let us also ask for her intercession for our environment, so that we might see all creation as God’s gift and work to preserve our earth, air, and water for future generations. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us!