Kateri Tekakwitha


Kateri Tekakwitha
Portrait of Catherine Tekawitha, c. 1690, by Father Chauchetière
Virgin[1]
Born1656
Ossernenon, New Netherland
Baptized18 April 1676
Died17 April 1680 (aged 24)
Kahnawake (near Montreal), Canada, New France
Venerated inCatholic Church
Beatified22 June 1980, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized21 October 2012, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast17 April[2]
14 July (United States)
AttributesLily; Turtle; Rosary
Patronageenvironment; ecology[3]
ControversyPressure to marry against will, shunned for her Catholic beliefs

Kateri Tekakwitha (pronounced [ˈɡaderi deɡaˈɡwita] in Mohawk), given the name Tekakwitha, baptized as Catherine, and informally known as Lily of the Mohawks (1656 – April 17, 1680), is a Mohawk/Algonquin Catholic saint and virgin. Born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, in present-day New York, she contracted smallpox in an epidemic; her family died and her face was scarred. She converted to Catholicism at age 19. She took a vow of perpetual virginity, left her village, and moved for the remaining five years of her life to the Jesuit mission village of Kahnawake, just south of Montreal. 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.

  1. ^ Pierre Cholence SJ, "Catharinae Tekakwitha, Virginis" (1696), Acta Apostolica Sedis, January 30, 1961
  2. ^ "Liturgical Calendar. Proper to The Dioceses of Canada" (PDF). cccb.ca. January 27, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "St. Kateri Tekakwitha". Catholic.org.