St. Kateri Tekakwitha
1656-1680
📅 Feast Day: Apr 17
📖 Life Timeline
1656
Born in c. 1656 AD, near Montreal, Canada
1680
er love of nature as God's creation
1680
Died — April 17, 1680 AD, Kahnawake, Canada
2012
Canonized — 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
✝ Biography
Born c.1656 in a Mohawk village near the Mohawk River in present-day New York. Her parents were Christian converts, but both died of smallpox when she was four, leaving her scarred and partially blind. Raised by Mohawk relatives who were not Christian, she was baptized at age 11, taking the name Catherine (Kateri means 'lightning' in Mohawk). Persecuted by her tribe for converting, she fled at age 20 to the Jesuit mission at Kahnawake near Montreal. Lived as a devout Catholic among the Huron, practicing extreme asceticism—fasting, self-flagellation, and sleeping on hard ground. Vowed perpetual virginity. Known for her love of nature as God's creation. Died Apr 17, 1680 at age 24. Beatified in 1980 by John Paul II, canonized in 2012 by Benedict XVI. First Native American saint. Patron of ecology and the environment.
🛡 Patronage
Patron of: Native Americans, the environment, ecology, television, and those disfigured by illness.
💬 Words of the Saint
I love to suffer for Jesus.
📜 Key Facts
Born
c. 1656 AD, near Montreal, Canada
Died
April 17, 1680 AD, Kahnawake, Canada
Feast Day
Apr 17
Canonized
2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
🕊 Legacy
Kateri is the patron saint of ecology and the environment — Pope Francis named her co-patron of World Youth Day 2016. She is a hero of Native American Catholics and a model of conversion.
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