Kateri Tekakwitha is to become the first aboriginal person in North America to become a Catholic Saint
A Mohawk woman is set to rise to sainthood in a ceremony that will take place at the Vatican's Saint Peter Basilica in Rome on Sunday October 21st, 2012 --300 years after her death. Several members of the Mohawk First Nation community located near Montreal Quebec are planning to attend the ceremony.
This event marks the importance of the celebration for the survivors of Canada's residential school system (long-lasting legacy of a system riddled with physical and emotional abuse). Former students credit Tekakwitha's spirit with giving them strength to endure the horrific situation and trauma. This was common place with approx. 150,000 children were removed from their homes and their families and forced to attend government-run schools since the late 19th century.
.The Life and Times of Kateri Tekakwitha
She was born in 1656 in Ossernon, which is now Auriesville in New York. According to records, she suffered from smallpox at the age of 4. The smallpox left her partially blind and scarred.
Unfortunately, she was ostracised for wanting to devote her life to God. She proceeded to leave her community and travelled to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier in Sault-Saint-Louis in Quebec. She received her First Holy Communion in 1677. Kateri was so devout and made a vow of virginity. She devoted her life to Jesus for her entire life.
When she died she was serving the Catholic Church in Kahnawake, Quebec at the age of 24 (1680). She died after years of self-flagellation and ailing health.
According to people who witnessed her death almost 300 years claimed that her scars disappeared soon after her death and her face was beautiful.
She was than called "Lily of the Mohawks".
She was named "vulnerable" by the church in 1943 and blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1980.
How does someone become a saint?
The Catholic Church has 4 important steps that must occur prior to becoming a saint:
- The subject must have been a worthy follower of God and washed away of all sins. A Bishop must review the person's life and they become a "Servant of God".
- To become a "vulnerable" one must of lived their life in virtue of the church and testimonies showing their lives are presented to officials in the Vatican review them.
- Blessed by a pope which shows substantial evidence that a miracle was preformed on their behalf. In her case, she is credited with curing a boy of flesh-eating disease.
- A second miracle must be accredited to them, so that they are deemed "blessed". However, this can be waived by the Pope.
To this day, she remains the first Native American to be blessed by the Catholic Church.
Marked on her tomb are the words "a lady of quality"-- may we all stop and think about what these words mean in our current world situation.
She has become a symbol of hope for Aboriginals throughout Canada.
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