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Supporters applaud finals steps to Native American’s sainthood
By Sr. Lorraine Masters, OLVM
Sister Lorraine Masters is a member of Our Lady of Victory Missionary Sisters in Huntington, Ind. She is the author of the book, "Blessings of the Four Winds," which explores her experiences as a catechist within Native American communities, and also with an examination of Native American spirituality.
In a recent statement in Newsweek magazine was the line, "Perhaps the biggest unqualified winner of 2011 is a 24-year-old virgin." A name was not mentioned, but for Native Americans and many others that virgin can only be Kateri Tekakwitha, the "Lily of the Mohawks."
The year of 2011 will be remembered as the year that the long-awaited miracle that would fulfill the requirements for her canonization was recorded. Soon we can call her Saint Kateri, instead of Blessed. I treasure my wooden statue of Kateri that was carved for me by our OLVM Sister Mary Joan Ginsterblum.
Kateri was born in 1656 along the Mohawk River in what is now New York stat. Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother an Algonquin woman who had converted to Catholicism. At the early age of four, Kateri Tekakwitha had suffered from smallpox, leaving her frail with impaired vision and facial scars. She was baptized by a Jesuit missionary at age 20. This drew strong disapproval from her family, so she moved to a Christian community neat Montreal, Canada. She later took a vow of chastity.
Catholics who have worked with, and for, Native Americans have soon been inspired by her example as she was proclaimed Blessed by the Church. Every year since 1939, Catholic Indians and others have met in what is known as the Tekakwitha Conference. These conferences have been in many parts of the United States, and drawn devoted followers, both Native Americans and others (I have been to 19).
Kateri died young and was buried in Canada, but her short life has inspired many. Through the years the Church has called her Blessed after she was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, and her followers have prayed for the final miracle that would be the final step for her canonization as a saint.
According to Tekakwitha Conference president Sister Kateri Mitchel, a 6-year-old Native American boy was cured of a flesh-eating virus on his face in 2006 after praying to Kateri for her intercession. This has been accepted by the Church as the final step in the process that will make her the first Native American saint.
Kateri is now the official patron saint of Native Americans and her devoted followers.
Our Lady of Victory Missonary Sisters is an American Missionary Congregation founded in 1922 — serving the poor and oppressed in a personal, non-institutional way
+ Proclaiming the Gospel + Working for Justice + Empowering the Laity
We want to minister to the culturally diverse Catholic population of this country, proclaiming Jesus Christ through evangelization, education and/or Christian formation. We would like to offer a solid Catholic teaching and ministries that speak to the needs of the faith communities, empowering the Laity, dedicating our prayer and ministry to the proclamation of God's Kingdom.
That is why we have become part of a network of religious communities collaborating to assist home mission dioceses in their efforts to develop lay leadership and ministry. This is an initiative of the Home Missions Leadership Conference and the Congar Institute for Ministry Development. READ MORE
In a recent statement in Newsweek magazine was the line, "Perhaps the biggest unqualified winner of 2011 is a 24-year-old virgin." A name was not mentioned, but for Native Americans and many others that virgin can only be Kateri Tekakwitha, the "Lily of the Mohawks."
