Saint Kateri Tekakwitha – Lily of the Mohawks

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, which is in present day New York. Her father was a Mohawk chief, and her mother was an Algonquin who had been baptized Catholic.

At a young age she and many in her village were afflicted with smallpox which left many scars on her face and impaired her eyesight. This outbreak killed her father, mother and little brother. Her name “Tekakwitha means “she who walks groping for her way”. She converted to Catholicism at the age of 19, on March 25^th, 1679, and took a vow of perpetual virginity (she never married). She died on April 17^th,1680 at the age of 24.

Saint Kateri was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II and she was canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. She was the first Native American Saint in Canada and the United States.

Learn more about Saint Kateri – Lily of the Mohawks

Our Patron Saint – Saint Kateri Conservation Center

Kateri Tekakwitha – Wikipedia

Watch her video on Formed.org (our Parish subscribes to it- Saint Joseph Catholic Community Fremont)