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Kateri Tekakwitha, also known as Catherine Tegakwitha/Takwita, was born in 1656 in Gandahouhague, on the south bank of the Mohawk River, in a village called Ossernenon.

The Mohawks were known as the fiercest of the "Five Nations" of the Iroquois. War was waged between the Mohawks and Algonquins. Kateri's mother, a Christian Algonquin, was taken captive by a Mohawk warrior and soon they were married. They had a happy life together and eventually had a girl. They named her Tekakwitha, which means "she who moves forward". When she was four years old, a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and baby brother. Their names are unknown.

Kateri contracted and survived the disease, but her eyesight was impaired. Her face was scarred and the disease left her weak the rest of her life. After five years of the sickness, the survivors of the village moved to the north bank of the river to begin a new life. Tekakwitha and her relatives moved into the Turtle Clan village called Gandaouague. She was then raised by aunts and an uncle, the Chief of the Turtle Clan.

In 1667 the Jesuit missionaries Fremin, Bruyas, and Pierron spent three days in the lodge of Tekakwutga's uncle. They had accompanied the Mohawk delegation who had been to Quebec to conclude peace with the French. From the Blackrobes she received her first knowledge of Christianity. In 1670 the Blackrobes established St. Peter's Mission in Caughnawaga, now Fonda, NY. In 1674, Fr. James de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission which included the Turtle Clan. Tekakwitha met Father de Lamberville when he visited her home. She told him about her desire to become baptized. Despite opposition to Christianity from her tribe and particularly her uncle, she met with the Blackrobe in secret. She began to take religious instructions. On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, at the age of 20, she was baptized and given the name Kateri, Indian for Katherine.

Her family wanted her to abandon her religion. She became the subject of increased contempt from the people of her village for her conversion, as well as her refusal to work on Sundays or to marry. She practiced her religion unflinchingly in the face of almost unbearable opposition. Finally her uncle's lodge ceased to be a place of protection to her. With the help of Christian Indians she fled her village. Two months later and about two hundred miles through woods, rivers and swamps, Kateri arrived at the Sault. On Christmas Day, 1677, Kateri received her first Holy Communion.

Here she lived in the cabin of a Christian Indian, Mary Teresa Tegaiaguenta. She and Kateri became friends. Both girls performed extraordinary penance. Kateri and her friend asked permission to start a religious community, but their request was denied.

At Caughnawaga she contributed to the community's economy while engaging in great personal sacrifices. She also continued to keep her personal vow of chastity.

In 1678, Kateri was enrolled in the pious society called The Holy Family because of her extraordinary practices of all virtues. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, when she was 24 years of age. When she died, much to the amazement of those in attendance, all the disfiguring scars on her face miraculously disappeared.

Pope John Paul II beatified her in Rome on June 22, 1980, in the presence of hundreds of North American Indians. She is now known to us as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

In the past, we commemorated her Feast Day on the day of her death. April 17 often falls during the season of Lent or during Easter Week. When the Bishops of the United States gathered for their fall meeting in Washington, DC, in November 1982, they voted to change the day of observance of the Feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to July 14th. The new feast day will enable the Church in the United States to celebrate and honor Blessed Kateri without the feast day overlapping with the season of Lent.

"Too few people are asking her for cures, and miraculous cures. She was one whose life proved the miracle of her age, some three hundred years ago. She is, no doubt of it, dear to God. The difficulty seems to be that her fellow Americans are not asking her to obtain for them signs and wonders that mean miracles of healing for her clients and new proofs that she is entitled to her place on the altar.... in the Church.... Kateri needs people to ask her for miracles...." Father Daniel Lord, SJ, wrote of Kateri.

"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 St. 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 innocence and faith. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

"The Prayer" was the Mohawk name for religion; "praying Indian" the name for a Christian Indian. All was open in an Indian Village, and the priests had to pray publicly. Their converts assembled in the chapel for prayer. Prayer is union with God, and what else is religion? When Tekakwitha saw the missionaries at prayer in her uncle's cabin, the sight irresistibly attracted her. It helped to unite her with God, until her life became an act of prayer, of union with God.

Grace is the thought that comes with mention of Tekakwitha. Unbaptized until her twentieth year, through no fault of her parents or her own, she still was a child of grace, which means that she grew up in God's favor. She did all the good she could to retain God's favor. Kateri was a child of grace. May we, like Our Lord, grow in wisdom, age and grace!

Holy are those whose faith, hope and charity are extraordinary, who cultivate the virtues: prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, and the good habits which grow out of these: prayer, humility, obedience, patience, resignation, penance. In all these Tekakwitha excelled.

All her names inspire admiration and affection. Kateri, Iroquois form of Catherine, her baptismal name, means pure, and she was purity itself. "Lily of the Mohawks." Lily is the emblem of purity. She is known as "The Good Catherine", because so many have received favors by invoking her. St. Genevieve had saved Paris of Old France; Kateri was named Genevieve of New France after she had saved the mission and the missionaries. Tekakwitha means "putting things in order", or "moving before her". She put order among her people, and moves all by answers to prayer. This flower of our American wildwood is already Blessed; may she soon be named Saint!

One who is innocent will harm nobody, nor see evil in others; will not shock, scandalize or grieve them, but give them edification, pleasure, and win their admiration and affection.

She remained innocent: thought no evil, harbored no suspicion, entertained no ill-will, as if she were not of this world.

Out from her Caughnawaga cabin at dawn and straight-way to chapel to adore the Blessed Sacrament, hear every Mass; back again during the day to hear instruction, and at night for a last prayer or Benediction. Her neighbors sought to be near her when she received Holy Communion, as her manner excited devotion.

Tekakwitha loved the image of the Cross. During the hunt she made an oratory in the woods by cutting a cross in the bark of a tree. The first picture of her, the only portrait of an Indian of that long ago, represents her venerating a small cross. It moved her to do penance in order to imitate Our Lord in His Passion.

The faithful Indian convert women would tell her how affectionate her mother was. That would help her to know how affectionate the Mother of Christ was and still is in heaven. The rosary and the Litany were favorite prayers of hers. More than once she walked or canoed ten miles from her Mohawk village, Caughnawaga, to Tionontoguen, where the statue of Our Lady was venerated under the title, Virgin Most Faithful.

Although we are not yet permitted to express publicly the belief that Tekakwitha is among the Saints in Heaven, it is our private belief and we pray that the Church may soon declare it. While awaiting this, we invoke her aid. Wonderful are the favors attributed to her. While praying for our own needs, we should pray for her canonization.

Kateri, leader of many Indians to the true faith through your love for Mary, pray for us.

Kateri, your holy death gave strength to all Indians to love Jesus and Mary, pray for us.

O Jesus, who gave Kateri to the Indians as an example of purity, teach all people to love purity, and to console your immaculate Mother Mary through the lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, and your Holy Cross, Amen.

It would be appropriate to have prepared a focal point/shrine as focus for this prayer. Kateri is often shown with a very basic crucifix shape in her arms. The story is told that when Kateri walked through the woods she would fashion simple crosses out of pieces of wood, or carve them onto the bark of standing trees. When she came across them again, they would remind her to pray and to reflect on the passion of Jesus. She is also referred to as “The Lily of the Mohawks”. Any/all of these elements: a picture of Kateri, a simple cross, a ‘lily’, a crucifix, candles (symbol of the light she brought to others), a native item (drum, sash, feather, leather moccasin...) would be appropriate for a focal point.

Be still within and without. Know that Jesus is with us now as we remember our sister, Kateri Tekakwitha. Let us listen to her story as it speaks of her faith journey in the world of 17th century America. Reader 1:In 1656, she was born, the child of a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk Sub-Chief on the south bank of the Mohawk River, in the village of Ossernenon. She was called Tekakwitha, 'moving all before her'. When she was four, after a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and baby brother, she was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. She survived the disease, but was left with damaged eyesight and a badly scarred face. The epidemic left her body physically weak for the rest of her life. The survivors moved to the north bank of the river into Kahnawake. On Easter Sunday 1676, she was baptized and given the name Kateri (Katherine). On Christmas Day in 1677, she received the eucharist for the first time. She lived a life dedicated to prayer and penitential practices, and cared for the sick and the aged. She died in 1680 at Sault St. Louis Mission near Montreal. Minutes after she died, the scars on her face disappeared. Companions on her journey were her Christian mother who taught her 'the gentle ways', the black robed missionaries who introduced her to Jesus and his unquestioning love, the people of her own clan and their traditional spirituality, and members of the Christian Indian Village, Kahnawake.

Little Tekakwitha, with you we remember your mother and father who gave you life and taught you their traditions. We see you walking with your mother through the forest and along the banks of the river, and at night gazing up at the stars that reflect the love and care of the Creator of all. The winters are cold, the summers are very warm, and you play with rocks and flowers and the earth that gives life.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

Tekakwitha, young child, we are with you during the long epidemic in which your good and prayerful mother and your father die. You are only four, and you have also been very ill. We acknowledge your sorrow, loving child. We see you go to live with your uncle and aunts and we bless your name.

Tekakwitha, daughter, we know that since you were sick, you now have very bad eyesight and are not as strong and healthy as many of the children. We watch you grow taller and wiser, see that you are a very hard worker and good at beading and needlecraft and other tasks. You are quiet, and like to walk alone in the forest, and listen to the birds and smell the flowers, and feel the new growth on the trees. You remember your mother and her gentle ways. And the years pass.

Tekakwitha, young sister, the Black Robes have visited your people. You remember the stories your mother shared many years ago, and you wish to know more. You ask many questions of this stranger who speaks so haltingly. His answers give you hope. His answers bring an undefined promise to your soul. You want to find out more about Jesus. You wish to find the depths of the meaning of life. You ask to become a Christian.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

Kateri Tekakwitha, our sister in Christ, you have been baptized in Christ and now you must leave your people. You love them and forgive them, even though they treat you very badly because of your decision to become a Christian. You love your aunts, even though you work hard all week so that you can spend Sunday in prayer. They refuse to feed you. You understand their feelings. You love them.

Kateri Tekakwitha, beloved of Jesus, you have given yourself to Him who loves us all unconditionally. You have left your people and have become His hands; and now you bring His love and His care and His word to others. You, who are not well, spend most of your time caring for the sick and the elderly and speaking of Jesus and His promise.

Kateri Tekakwitha, teacher, we see you move throughout your village, bringing peace and hope to all. We see you teaching prayers to the children and telling them stories of the Creator, who made the stars and the sun and the plants and the animals and each of the children. And you speak of his unconditional love of all of His children. And you speak of the harmony of the earth with the sky, and the elders with the children.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called 'children of God'. (Matthew 5:9)

Kateri Tekakwitha, persecuted child of God. We are with you as you walk with a group of hunters, looking for meat and skin to feed and clothe your people. The days are short and very cold, and it is very hard for you to do this because you are not strong. You do your part as prescribed by the customs of your people. You are cold and you are very tired, but you continue on. Later, someone accuses you of a sinful relation with a hunter. You are so sad. You know it is false. You feel the cross of Jesus.

Blessed are those whom are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)

Blessed Kateri, we remember your life and we acknowledge you, our child, our daughter and our sister in Christ. As you were drawn closer to God through the words spoken by the Black Robes, help each of us draw closer to God through His Word. May we find His joy and His peace as we journey. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing many native ministries in Catholic churches all over North America and around the world where there are aboriginal peoples. Since Kateri’s death, many miracles were attached to prayers for her intercession. In 1943, she was declared 'venerable' and in 1980, she was beatified. Thousands visit the shrines in Kahnawake , Quebec and in Auriesville, NY, her birth place. In Canada her feast day is celebrated on April 17th.

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 St. Lawrence, the pure and tender lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech you, the favour we beg through her intercession, that this young lover of Jesus and of His Cross may soon be counted among the Saints of Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

For further information on her cause, or to submit the claim of a miracle granted through the intercession of Blessed Kateri, contact:

Rectory and Office	(814) 563-4432
Office Fax	(814) 563-9686
Social Hall / Religious Ed	(814) 563-9395
Cellular	(814) 397-5520
email: parish@saintlukechurch.net