Kateri Tekakwitha

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Recommended: St. Kateri Tekakwitha legacy

Highly recognized by people, saints are famous around the world by people of all different backgrounds. Many different Christian-based religions have or use saints as a purpose to get people to pray more often than they would usually, or have them to be used as “communion saints”. There are over 10,000 saints, many with different backgrounds, histories, and meanings. Some of them are patron saints, which shield or protect a certain person, place, or thing. Saints can mean a lot of different things to people, with some of the most famous ones being Joan of Arc, Saint Agnes, Saint Peter, Saint Patrick, and more, But one of them, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, is easily overlooked and stands for a greater message even through her hard times.

Growing up, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha had a hard life. When she was just four in the year of 1660, an epidemic of smallpox ran through her native tribe, affecting both of parents and brother, killing all three. Though Saint Kateri survived, the disease left her weakened, partially blinded, and scarred in the face. For this reason, Saint Kateri had ‘Tekakwitha’ added to her name, which means “The One Who Walks Groping For Her Way”. After the tragic death of her immediate family, she moved and shared a house with her uncle, a head Mohawk chief, and her two aunts. In the culture that Saint Kateri Tekakwitha grew up with, it was expected to make marriage arrangements around the age of seven and eight. Instead of willingly agreeing to marry the boy her two aunts arranged for her to marry, she said that she dedicated her life to Christ. Remaining firm in her faith, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha stood with God throughout all the hardships.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was a strong and loyal believer of Christ. Wh...

... middle of paper ...

...for her. Each day, no matter the tempurature or even the possible case of severe weather, “she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass” (http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=154, St. Kateri Tekakwitha). After surviving smallpox, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha had bad health for the remainder of her life despite her active lifestyle and died at the age of twenty-four on April 17, 1680. Miraculously, it is said and recorded by two Jesuit saints that the scars from the smallpox that disfigured her face permanently disappeared after her death immediately.

Following her death, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha left behind many events and facts about her life. The devotion to Kateri has left behind the influence and establishment of several Native American based ministries in Catholic churches around North America.

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