Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to become first Native American saint

St. Kateri statue, Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse WI

The Holy Father, yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (three men and four women) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new saints is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars. -Vatican Information Service

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha lived in a society where publicly and literally people ate other men, offered sacrifices to demons, and every human act was done in view of others, I mean EVERYTHING. In the mist of all this she remained a pure virgin, even before she was a Christian, but after baptism in the True Faith under the One True God, she rocketed into great holiness. – A Friar With Great Devotion to her


Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. Shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Escaped through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie.

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