Catherine Tekakwitha (French Edition)

In the autumn of , with the aid of three indigenous neophytes, she succeeded in fleeing. Because of her exceptional qualities she was allowed to take her first communion by Christmas of , sooner than was usual for converts. This laywoman lived in full the life of her people, in the village as on the great winter hunts.

Not until , less than two years before her death, did she cease to accompany her people in their search for game; at this time the Eucharist had taken such a powerful hold upon her that, even at the risk of suffering hunger, she no longer wished to be away from the church for long months. Even in the fervent environment of the mission she had to endure great trials, in particular false accusations. Later her slanderers were the first to praise her. Kateri Tekakwitha would have liked to found a community of indigenous nuns, but Father Lamberville persuaded her to give up the idea.

It is easy to understand why posterity named her the Lily of the Mohawks. She concealed this penitential spirit to the best of her ability; she liked jokes and would laugh heartily. Kateri, whose health had always been mediocre, became aware at the beginning of that she was seriously ill. On the Tuesday of Holy Week she received the last sacrament. In consequence of conspicuous favours obtained through her intercession, there soon sprang up a strong devotion to her. Devotion to her has spread to Canada, the United States, and throughout the world.

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Since her death Kateri Tekakwitha has been the subject of numerous biographies in several languages. Charlevoix, Histoire , I. The Positio on Katharine Tekakwitha. Positio super virtutibus servae Dei Catherinae Tekakwitha. This biography was first published with terms that were regarded as appropriate at the time and are now considered offensive. On several occasions, she saw the Black Robes come into her village of Caughnawaga.

There seemed to be an aura of goodness surrounding these holy men. However, Tekakwitha was forbidden by her uncle to listen to or speak with them. He believed that the Black Robes were responsible for bringing disease and bad omens to his village. One day, in , the Chief was forced to invite the Black Robes into his longhouse.

It was Tekakwitha's duty to minister to them: She felt the holiness of these men. She desperately wanted to know about their God and His Son.

Document History

She vaguely remembered her mother speaking about this Christian God. Her mother might have taught her also about Jesus and Mary - Jesos and Wari. One of her mother's friends, Anastasie, frequently told Tekakwitha that her mother had embraced Christianity and had most likely taught her daughter some of the prayers to Jesus and Mary. Because her uncle and her aunts, who were vehemently opposed to Christianity, had forbidden her to speak to the Black Robes, Tekakwitha could not reveal to them her burning desire to learn about Jesus and Mary and to become a Christian like her mother had been.

She did, however, hear their prayers and their talk about this Christian God, about Jesus and His mother Mary. Click for enlarged view It was not until Father Jacques de Lamberville, in , accidentally came into her uncle's longhouse seeking information that Tekakwitha had enough strength to ask him if she could learn about his Christian God. She explained to this Jesuit priest that her mother was a Christian, that her mother's friend and adopted older sister Anastasie had spoken to her about Jesus and Mary, and that she wanted to learn more. However, it had to be carried out secretly for fear of her uncle and aunts' wrath.

Father de Lamberville soon discovered that his pupil had an inherent holiness that only the Holy Spirit could have placed in this soul. There are saints who were destined to be saints by God sending His Holy Spirit to imbue these souls with holiness from the moment that these persons were placed on earth. Tekakwitha was one of these chosen by our Creator to become a saint. Kateri, steadfast in all prayer, pray for us. Tekakwitha was one of these souls selected by the Holy Spirit to serve God without reservation. As a result of this revelation to Father de Lamberville, the Jesuit priest allowed Tekakwitha to be baptized after a shorter instructional time than was the custom at that time.

In those days the Fathers preparing people for baptism had them 'on trial' for a year and a half to two years. It was so difficult for an Indian convert to live up to the Faith surrounded by people whose ideas were different, that they made the prospective convert live the new Faith for that long, to be sure he or she really meant it. But in Kateri's case, it became evident to Father de Lamberville that this young lady not only truly understood all that was involved, but was determined to live her new Faith as well as possible, no matter what the difficulty.

Peter's Mission near the village of Caughnawaga. She was given the name of Kateri - Gahdehlee - Iroquois for Catherine.

As a result of her commitment to this Christian God, the Creator, Tekakwitha became the object of scorn and persecution by the other people in her village. Children laughed at her, threw stones at her and ridiculed her whenever she strayed from her uncle's longhouse.

She became the subject of increased contempt from the people of her village. She was not only "the Christian", but she was also "the Algonquin". When Tekakwitha reached the age when maidens needed to find a brave in matrimony, her family had found a young Mohawk for her. However, she announced that she was not giving herself to any man.

She persisted in her decision despite the wrath of her family. Kateri, keeper of your virginity in persecutions, pray for us. She was accused of being lazy because she would not work on Sundays, the day devoted entirely in prayer to her God. She was even threatened by a young brave with a tomahawk who was about to strike her; she knelt peacefully in front of his attack, ready to die for her Jesus.

The young brave was taken aback by her bravery and quietly withdrew without harming God's lovely and holy creature.

Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri, courage of the afflicted, pray for us. Peter's Mission, I kept thinking about my discovery, about my cousin Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, about my request that she watch over my daughter's family as they were going through a tough period of divorce. The chapel is a quiet place with many paintings and artifacts pertaining to our Kateri.

The hillside with its Stations of the Cross is an invitation to follow the passion of Jesus and to contemplate its mysteries as Tekakwitha did three hundred and fifty years ago. Then I saw the following statue: Click for enlarged view and the second event in my life happened. As I was praying to Kateri in front of this statue, I renewed my prayerful request that she watch over my daughter's family: I became enraptured in meditative prayer. I felt myself going back to the time and place of Tekakwitha. She was speaking to me; she asked me to spend the rest of my life in spreading knowledge of and devotion to her.

I promised her that her request would be my guide for the rest of my life here on earth. After moments of suspended time and space, I became aware of my presence before this statue. As I lowered my eyes in a final prayer, I noticed a feather near my feet - one that was not there before Tekakwitha spoke to me. I took this as a sign of her promise to and request of me.

From that moment, I knew and felt that my cousin Kateri Tekakwitha would always occupy an important part of my life and of those around me. I spent some time at the excavated site of Caughnawaga Castle of old. I could see my cousin Kateri going about working and praying within the castle walls. I could feel her presence here. I followed her path to the spring where she and other women of her tribe went to fetch water. Click for enlarged view I am not usually a patient person when trying to accomplish a project.

For me, I need to do now. I have been asking Blessed Kateri for many favors: At times, I was impatient in this regard. My cousin taught me patience. After returning from the Kateri Spring at Caughnawaga Castle, I locked all my belongings in the trunk of my car, including my car keys and my wife's handbag with her keys for safekeeping.

As soon as I closed the lid, I realized that everything was locked up tight. We needed to walk to the Mission to call for roadside help. Three hours later, we were back on the road. I spent that waiting time walking the village site of my cousin: You taught me a lesson and a virtue that was one of your strengths: You waited patiently for the Creator to hear your prayer to become a Christian.

It became evident that Tekakwitha's life in Caughnawaga was one of continuous persecution and ridicule. Her family continued their opposition to her new religion.

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Kateri practiced her religion without hesitation in the face of almost unbearable opposition and scorn. Kateri, unshakeable in temptations, pray for us. Her mentor and adopted older sister Anastasie had left, several years earlier, to go to the Christian village in New France. Word was sent to Tekakwitha that she was welcome there. With the help of two Christian Indians, she managed to escape her uncle's village and his pursuit of her to walk and paddle a canoe two hundred miles to the Catholic Mission at LaPrairie in New France.

Saint Kateri (Kateri Tekakwitha)

Click for enlarged view Kateri, who traveled many miles to learn the faith, pray for us. I did, however, see what Kateri's life was like in this environment, through the words of Jesuit Father Pierre Cholenec, a contemporary of Tekakwitha.

I will rely on his words to tell us who and what "Catherine Tekakwitha" was. Tekakwitha's deeply religious life did not really begin until she finally settled into this Mission at La Prairie de la Magdelaine. He wrote, as reported by Father Cholenec: I ask you to take her under your wing. She is a treasure from us to you, as you will soon see. Look after her well, and have her profit to God's glory and the salvation of a soul that is very dear to Him. With this recommendation, Father de Lamberville wished Father Cholenec to take care of this new arrival because he was already in charge of religious instructions at the Mission.

Father Cholenec was to become her spiritual mentor and confessor. Kateri, leader of many Indians to the true faith through your love of Mary, pray for us Kateri was reunited with Anastasie, her mother's friend and adopted older sister, who became her mentor in the ways and prayers of this Christian village. Their spiritual conversation helped Kateri to sanctify her work.

Her devotion to Jesus and Mary became the model of religious demeanor in her new community. Catherine grew in spirituality under her confessor, Father Cholonec. He wrote of her: To prepare for Confession, she began with the last part, by which I mean the penance, going into the woods to flog her shoulders with large branches, and then went to the church and spent a long time crying over her sins Her horror of sin and fear of displeasing God made her love solitude so much, Many of the first Christians at the Sault practiced extraordinary acts of penance: Father Cholenec had to dissuade them from carrying out such practices.

They became spiritually united to each other. The two were inseparable, both in work and in prayer.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha: a life of faith

Since I was the spiritual director for each, they proposed this course of action and asked for my permission, which I gladly gave However, by the kind of spiritual life that Kateri led, so fervent and so exemplary, she merited to receive Holy Communion sooner than normal. At Christmas , a few months after her arrival, she was allowed to receive the Eucharist. Kateri, who loved Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us. She bound herself to Him on that day, resolving to carry the mortifications of Jesus Christ on her virginal body for the rest of her days On Easter she received Communion for the second time and she did this with the same dispositions, the same fervor, and the same benefits as at Christmas.

And, to add to her spiritual goods and graces, she received a second grace from the missionary on this same feast-day -- membership in the Holy Family Confraternity -- a favor which he rarely accorded to anyone and thus indicated the esteem that he had for her virtue". For the next three years, Catherine continued to pray intensively and to carry out extraordinary acts of penance. She was finally advised by her confessor to tone down the excessive penances. Catherine cared for the sick and the aged, bringing them comfort both spiritual and material.

She was judged by her spiritual director as being too new a Christian for such an undertaking. Kateri, humble servant to the sick, pray for us. Anastasie complained to Father Cholenec about this decision. However, she finally realized that, because of her deep faith and admiration for Catherine, that she would support her "younger sister" and that Catherine had chosen the better part.

Then, with a heart all afire with His Love, she asked Him to be her only Spouse and to take her as His spouse in return. She prayed to Our Lady for whom she had a tender affection Father Cholenec testified about Kateri's holiness in these words: During her childhood, her eyes were weakened by smallpox, her body was abused through extraordinary penances, and about a year before her death, there was a grave malady, a low-grade fever accompanied by severe stomach pains and frequent vomiting.

Even during the last month of her life, she was sleeping on a bed of pine-needles which ruined what little health she had left. On Tuesday morning of Holy Week , we saw that she was failing noticeably, so we gave her Holy Viaticum which she received with angelic love and devotion like a true spouse of Our Lord On Wednesday morning, she was given Extreme Unction, which she received with the same devotion as for Holy Viaticum on the previous day. Around three o'clock in the afternoon she entered into her agony, the most peaceful in the world.

Some time later she lost the power of speech after having spoken the holy names of Jesus and Mary Finally, in less than half an hour after her agony began, she expired as peacefully as if she had entered a deep sleep. A miraculous event took place just fifteen minutes after her death.

Her face marked by smallpox became so beautiful and so fair that Father Cholonec let out a yell and called others to see what had happened. It could have been at that moment that Kateri entered heaven and that she had a preview of the glory of her body risen with Christ.