St Kateri Tekakwitha 14th July

VIDEO https://youtu.be/A1pQMOJqvNc
WEBPAGE https://saintmichaelusa.org/0714-st-kateri-tekakwitha/
14th July
St. Kateri Tekakwitha
St. Kateri Tekakwitha known as Lily of the Mohawks is the first Native American to be recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. At age four Kateri was the only member of her family to survive smallpox epidemic. She was left with permanent scars on her face and impaired eyesight. She was commonly seen wearing a blanket to hide her face. Kateri Tekakwitha was raised by her uncle, who was the chief of a Mohawk clan. Kateri refused to marry. Her adoptive parents punished her by giving her more work to do, but she did not give in. Instead, she remained quiet and diligent. Eventually they accepted that she had no interest in marriage. At age 19, Kateri Tekakwitha converted to Catholicism, taking a vow of chastity and pledging to marry only Jesus Christ. Her decision started rumors of sorcery. To avoid persecution, she traveled to a Christian native community south of Montreal.According to legend, Kateri was very devout and would put thorns on her sleeping mat.
She often prayed for the conversion of her fellow Mohawks. According to the Jesuit missionaries, she often fasted and when she would eat, she would taint her food to diminish its flavor. Her practices of self-mortification and denial have not helped her health. Just five years after her conversion to Catholicism, she became ill and passed away at age 24, on April 17, 1680. Witnesses said that her scars vanished minutes later, and her face appeared radiant and beautiful.
She was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI at Saint Peter’s Basilica on 21 October 2012.
She is the patroness of ecology and the environment, people in exile and Native Americans.