A Mohawk woman from what is now New York State, she was scarred and left with weak eyesight by smallpox. After her baptism she fled hostility to a Christian village in Canada, where she lived in prayer and virginity until her early death.
Life
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in what is now New York State, to a Mohawk father and a Christian Algonquin mother. As a child she lost her family to smallpox, and the disease left her face scarred and her eyesight weak.
She came to know the faith through Jesuit missionaries and was baptized on Easter in 1676. Facing hardship in her village because of her faith, she moved to a Christian community near Montreal, where she lived a life of prayer and service. She died in 1680 at the age of twenty-four and in 2012 was canonized as the first Native American saint.
Spirituality
Kateri's spirituality is a pure and steadfast love for God. Even amid misunderstanding and suffering she never let go of prayer, and tradition says she set up wooden crosses in the woods to pray before them. A sensitivity to meeting God in his creation is also part of her gift.
Reflection
Saint Kateri had to leave her home for her faith, yet she found a home in prayer. Living in a land not my birthplace, where do I find rest and belonging in God?