Saint Kateri Tekakwitha whose feast we celebrate today is generally known as the “Lily of the Mohawks.” While she is a patron saint of ecology, the environment, and Native Americans, I would like to also suggest that she could be a patron of persistence.
Kateri was born in 1656 in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (Auriesville, NY) to a Mohawk chief and an Algonquin mother. At age 4, tragedy struck when her parents, brother, and many of her tribe died of smallpox. She was left with severe scarring and pain, as well as partial blindness. (The scars miraculously vanished upon her death!) Yet from this wounded childhood emerged a spirit of quiet resilience and hidden grace. She was taken in by her uncle and, at some point she was introduced to the gospel by Jesuit missionaries; she responded wholeheartedly. She determined to take a vow of virginity and pursue baptism in the Catholic faith. People in the tribe were not happy about her decision—we must remember that this represented the religion of the oppressor. She was harassed, bullied, and put down for her decision, and yet she persisted.
She converted to Catholicism officially at age 19, left her village to live at the Jesuit Mission village of Kanawake, near Montreal.
How often in our own lives do we find ourselves misunderstood or standing alone. Kateri reminds us that fidelity to Christ can often require times of solitude. Happily she did find her niche in Montreal where she lived out a life of prayer, penitence, and charity, caring for the sick and elderly and living her best life until the age of 24.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)
In her purity of heart, St. Kateri saw God not only in prayer but in all of creation. Her life reminds us that the pure of heart truly see God—everywhere, in everyone, and in the beauty of the earth—and that if you determine a path towards your fulfillment, stick with it! Eventually you will find companions to join you.
Photo Credit: Statue of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha by Estella Loretto, located outside the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Unveiled in 2003.
