SAINT KATERI TEKAKWITHA (1656-1680)

July 14

Though the New York State Thruway runs close by the North American Martyrs’ Shrine, traffic’s roar never pierces the peace enveloping Auriesville—Ossernon to Native Americans—in the lovely Mohawk Valley, where Kateri Tekakwitha was born barely ten years after the martyrdom of Isaac Jogues and his Jesuit and lay companions. Daughter of a Christian Algonquin mother and non-Christian Mohawk chief, Kateri’s parents died in a smallpox epidemic widely blamed on the missionaries. Moreover, many Native Americans had experienced exploitation at the hands of “Christian” traders and trappers, further discrediting the faith Kateri embraced in baptism, then pledged to live even more intensely in vowed virginity. Misunderstanding led to harassment, prompting her move to a Christian village farther north along the Saint Lawrence River. Despite this, Kateri’s faith remained undaunted, her selfless charity undiminished. Both before and after her death at twenty-four, this young “Lily of the Mohawks” drew countless converts to Christ by the fragrance of her goodness. Through us, does “the aroma of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15), attract others to the beauty of his gospel?