Day 313 -- Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

I first learned about Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha years ago, but became reacquired with her through a friend...a friend who had surgery today and I have been praying for. I have also been to Blessed Kateri's birthplace two times where the Shrine of our Lady of the Martyrs is now. It was Tertullian, Church Father from the 2nd century who wrote "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" implying that the martyrs willing sacrifice of their heroic lives will lead to the conversion of others. Blessed Kateri was born in 1656 in Osserneon (modern day upstate New York) where Saint Isaac Jogues and companions were martyred in 1646.

Blessed Kateri was the daughter of Christian Algonquin mother who was captured by Iroquois and married non-Christian Mohawk chief. She was orphaned during the small epidemic and that left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. She converted and was baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. She was shunned and abused by her family because of her faith. She escaped and traveled 200 miles to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. She took a vow of chastity in 1679. She died on April 17, 1680 in Caughnawaga, Canada. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and a place of miracles. She is the first Native American up for canonization. Her cause started in 1884 and was beatified on June 22, 1980.


Here is a litany to Blessed Kateri.

Prayer for her canonization
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 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. Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us.