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THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA

"Lily of the Mohawks"

1656 to 1680

by Margaret E. Wardlaw

In the year of 1655 a young indian maiden was captured during the savage Iroquois invasions. Her name was Kahenta, born of the Algonquins and later converted by the Black Robes to Christianity. Taken to the territory of the Mohawks, she was wed to a non-Christian Mohawk chief, of the Turtle Clan, which allowed her to escape torture and death.

Located near Auriesville, NY, along the South bank of the Mohawk River, lay the Village of Ossernenon in which they lived. Their union blossomed, and in the year of 1656 brought unto them a child. This child, a girl, was named Tekakwitha the "One Who Puts Things In Order". Soon after followed the birth of her baby brother.

At the age of four, smallpox attacked her village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Tekakwitha an orphan. Although forever weakened, facially scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived the dreaded disease. Following five years of ravagement by the disease the survivors moved the village to the North bank of the river to begin life anew.

Tekakwitha was adopted by two Aunts and her Uncle, also a Mohawk chief. They took her with them and moved to a Turtle Clan Village called Gandauoque(Caughnawaga).

Although her mother had been baptized, she had not, but in her heart she was a Christian. She was unhappy with her life and sought much solitude, both because of her poor eyesight and because she felt in her heart that much of the life of the Mohawks was wrong.

When she was around ten the Iroquois were vanquished by the French. There followed the signing of a peace treaty that allowed the Black Robes access to the Mohawk villages. Even though hated by her people, the Black Robes came to preach their faith and spread their beliefs.

Despite opposition to Christianity from her tribe, family and especially her uncle, Tekakwitha often met with the priests who came to the village to learn all she could about God. In many ways her life was the same as all young indian maidens. It entailed days filled with chores, spending happy times with other girls, communing with nature, and planning for her future.

St. Peter's Mission was established in the year of 1670 in the Village of Caughnawaga and a chapel was constructed in one of the longhouses.

Though she was only able to understand bits and pieces of the faith preached by the missionaries, it continued to stoke the fires that burned within her to learn all she could of Christianity. She wanted more than anything to be baptized and live her life as a Christian.

Father James de Lamberville came and took charge of St. Peter's in the year of 1674. One day, while Tekakwitha was at home nursing an injury to her foot, she was visited by Father de Lamberville. Tekakwitha could not contain the burning desire she had to learn all she could of Christianity and be baptized. So she poured her heart out to Father de Lamberville and he agreed to give her religious instruction which would lead her to baptizm.

Through all of this Tekakwitha was increasingly scorned by her people and although she had to suffer greatly for her faith she remained firm in it.

At the age of twenty she was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5th in the year of 1676 and given the name of Kateri or Katherine.

At this time she became the subject of increased cruelty and derision from her people. Her people hated her for her conversion to Christianity, as well as her refusal to marry and to work on Sundays. Kateri made it clear to all that she wished to be a bride of Christ, to remain forever a Virgin and to never marry among mankind. And for all this she was taunted, tortured and held in contempt by all.

Because of increasing hostility from her people and because she wanted to devote her life to working for God, in July of the year of 1677, Kateri stole away from her village and fled to go and live at the Mission of St Francis Xavier Sault, in Sault St. Louis, near Montreal. This was the new Christian Colony of Indians in Canada. It took over two months, and travelling on foot about three hundred miles through woods, rivers and swamps before Kateri arrived at the Mission in the Autumn. Because of her determination in proving herself worthy of God and her undying faith through all she was allowed to receive her first Holy Communion on Christmas day,in the year of 1677.

Although uneducated and unable to read and write she lived her life dedicated to doing for others. A life filled with prayer, penitential practices, devoted to teaching the young, and to the care of the sick and elderly.

Through all of these wonderful works she did and all she gave to others there were still some unhappy with her. There were some of her people who still wanted Kateri to marry among the tribes. They thought that if they attacked her virtue that she would be forced to marry one of the braves. So during a winter hunt they falsely accused Kateri of having sinful relations, with one of the braves, at a private spot she often sought out for private prayer. Never did they count on the strength of her faith to give her the patience to endure these lies till the truth was exposed. Kateri continued with her good works and flourished.

On March 25th in the year of 1679, Kateri became a Bride of Christ and after receiving Holy Communion pronounced her vow of perpetual virginity.

Kateri and Mary Teresa (Tegaiaguenta) became great friends and in the year of 1679 were allowed to begin a small convent at the Mission.

As a result of the tribulations and austerities in Kateri's life she was struck down in her last year with a terrible illness. She suffered great pain but never released her hold of the faith in Jesus Christ and the Mother Mary. She knew in her heart that when the time came she would go to her sweet heaven to be with them both.

That time came on April 17th in the year of 1680, on the Wednesday of Holy Week at around three o'clock in the afternoon. She was twenty-four years old, and like the flower she was named for, her life was short and beautiful. Her last words were spoken in terrible pain and then she could speak no more and fell into a deep sleep and died. Moments after dying, her scarred and disfigured face miraculously cleared and was made beautiful by God as she passed through the Gates of Heaven. This miracle was witnessed by two Jesuits and all the others able to fit into the room.

Though Kateri passed through the Gates of Heaven her Spirit remains here forever to guide us along the true path.

She was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII, on January 3rd of the year of 1943.

Devotion to Kateri Tekakwitha has been responsible for establishing many Native American ministries in Catholic churches throughout many countries.

She was the first Native American to be declared Blessed. She is the Patroness of environment and ecology. Her feastday is July 14th.

Kateri Tekakwitha was Beatified by Pope John Paul II in June of the year of 1980.

The Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, has not yet been canonized but work is underway to have it done by the Church.

Shrines to Kateri have been erected at both St. Francis Xavier, Caughnawaga, her birthplace at Auriesville, NY and many other places. Pilgrimages by hundreds of thousands at all these sites continue today.

She continues, even today, to call to all of God's Children, both young and old, and lead them to respond to God's will and become saints of their own.





BLESSED KATERI TEKAKWITHA
AND THE MIRACLE OF PRAYER





This editorial was published in the "Indian Country Today" weekly newspaper on Wednesday, May 17,2000. It is published on this website with permission and byline credit to the author, Jose Barreiro, and Indian Country Today.
I planned to publish it today, July 14,2000, the Feast Day of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
~Jerrye Franks-Smith~



Whether traditional or Christian, American Indians are spiritual people. The power of connection to spirit,the belief in life beyond the physical and the impetus to pray are deeply held convictions throughout the Native Americas.

For 16 years, as Patricia "Happi" White Bull, lay in a coma in a New Mexico hospital, members of her Standing Rock Reservation family, gathered to pray. Doctors had told the family that Mrs.White Bull, who had lost consciousness during childbirth in 1983, was unlikely to ever come out of the coma. There was nothing else that Western medicine could do for her.

Sixteen years is a long time. Many people would have given up hope. But not the White Bull family. As do many Native American Catholics, they sought the help of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the "Lily of the Mohawks". Periodically, Mrs. White Bull's mother-in-law joined some 20 other members of the Kateri Circle in Rapid City, S.D. to pray for Mrs. White Bull. When the stricken Native mother awakened on Christmas Eve, 1999, many believers joined the opinion of New Mexico Archbishop Michael Sheehan that her case is " a good sign of miraculous intervention".

Kateri Tekakwitha is the closest thing American Indian Catholics have to a saint. Born near Auriesville, N.Y., in 1656, the young Kateri was baptized in 1676. She died on the Mohawk Reserve of Caughnawaga,Canada, in 1680. The daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Mohawks and married into their tribe, Kateri was a victim of smallpox early in life.

The disease left her scarred and nearly blind for life. A reserved young woman, Kateri refused marriage and despite great hostility, became a devout Christian. Practicing her religion in the face of violent opposition, Kateri became known for her ministrations on behalf of the people and for her physical sacrifice and self-torture (mortifications of the flesh),a practice which is credited with bringing her perfect union with God in prayer.

Since Kateri's death, many Indian people have manifested great devotion to her. Her grave and nearby monument at Caughnawaga are considered shrines by believers and many pilgrims visit with them every year to gain her intercession with the Creator. There are numerous Kateri Circles throughout North America, on reservations and cities. Kateri was declared Venerable by Pope Pius XII, January 3,1943, and beatified by Pope John Paul II, June 22,1980. Her feast day is celebrated on July 14. She is a candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church.

Many Indian people of course reject the Christian teachings, and certainly, the instances of intolerance,outright denial and even persecution of Native spirituality ~fairly recent in some cases~ make it difficult for many to look upon Christian claims with anything but disdain. However,our most fundamental teaching, as Native peoples, has always been to show respect for one another's vision.

Leaving aside for the moment the well-known and true problems between Catholicism and traditional Indian lifeways, Indian Country Today celebrates the good fortune, divine or not, of the White Bull family. We are particularly happy for the conscious reunification of a mother and her children, who never lost faith through 16 years of quiet solitude.

We join with the family and with people of good will everywhere in wishing Patricia White Bull a continuous and full recovery. A miracle may well have occurred and Kateri Tekakwitha,the "Lily of the Mohawks", may well have been its divine intercessor. Indian Catholics everywhere will certainly rejoice in that and pray that the Church in Rome will fully note it.

Kateri's candidature for sainthood has awaited a "miracle". Perhaps it has occurred; perhaps it is time for the Church to fully rejoice in the devotions of its Indian flock: "Saint Kateri", has a good sound, and since this past Christmas, it rings true.







PRAYER For the Canonization

of

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha




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. Amen.

Imprimatur
Most Rev. Howard J. Hubbard, DD
Bishop of Albany




BOOKS TO READ ABOUT KATERI


• Kateri Tekakwitha: Mohawk Maid by Evelyn M. Brown
• Kateri Tekakwitha: The Lily of the Mohawks by Lillian M. Fisher
• Kateri Tekakwitha (Saints You Should Know Series) by Margaret R. Bunson, Matthew E. Bunson
• Kateri Tekakwitha: Mystic of the Wilderness by Margaret R. Bunson




LINKS

MU Special Collections Kateri Tekakwitha Exhibit

Native American Writings of Julia White

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha "Star of the Natives"
Stained Glass Window of Kateri Tekakwitha at St Gerome Church

Cross in the Woods Homepage

Kateri On-Line!




Kateri Tekakwitha-My Cousin
Norm Léveillée,Author








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