| Tekakwitha, Kateri (1656-80),
First
North American Indian and layperson recommended for canonization in the
Roman Catholic church.
Born at Ossernenon (now Auriesville, New York) to a Mohawk chief and a Christian Algonquin, Tekakwitha was orphaned at the age of four. Inspired by an encounter with three Jesuit missionaries in 1667, she was baptized by Jacques de Lamberville, the Jesuit missionary to the Iroquois, in 1676. The following year, after being threatened because of her faith, she fled to the missionary settlement of Sault St. Louis, near Montréal. There she lived an ascetic life, winning the name Lily of the Mohawks for her charity, heroism, and piety. She was designated as Venerable in 1943 and was declared Blessed in 1980. |
