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Description
St. Kateri Tekakwitha icon
© Cecilia Lawrence
September 2nd 2016
4.5 x 6 inches
Ink, watercolor, gold leaf

“I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary,
I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife.”
~ St. Kateri Tekakwitha

“Let us rejoice and shout for joy, because the Lord of all things
has favored this holy and glorious virgin with his love.”
~ from the Entrance Antiphon for St. Kateri Tekakwitha

This is my icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first canonized Native American saint from North America. I based my icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha off of the portrait painted of her by Fr. Claude Chauchetière, who knew her personally and was the first to write a biography about her life. It can be seen here: www.leveillee.net/kateri/canon… , thecatholicspirit.com/wp-conte… , www.zachej.sk/uploads/images/f… . I depicted her wearing a blue mantle with a long white shirt decorated with a pattern of little gold leaves. Her hands are crossed over her breast, as a sign of modesty, and she holds a cross and a rosary in her right hand and three lilies in her left. The cross represents her Christian faith and her love for Jesus Christ crucified, the rosary represents her devotion to Mary and her own life of prayer, and the lilies are symbolic of her purity and virginity.

:+: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE SAINT :+:

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – April 17th 1680 A.D.), also known as the Lily of the Mohawks, she was born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (in modern-day upstate New York). Her mother Tagaskouita was a Christian Algonquin who had been taught her faith by French Jesuit missionaries at Trois-Rivières. She had been kidnapped during a raid on her village and taken by the Mohawk chief Kenneronkwa, who later married her and had her adopted into the Mohawk tribe. Their first child was Tekakwitha and they later had a son as well.

In 1661, the Mohawk village of Ossernenon was struck by a terrible smallpox epidemic which devastated the population and left many dead, including both of Tekakwitha’s parents and her little brother. She survived, but from the age of five her face was horribly ravaged by the marks of smallpox and greatly disfigured her face. The smallpox also left her nearly blind and affected her hearing. She was adopted by paternal aunt and was taken to the Mohawk village of Caughnawaga. She grew up there in the family longhouse and was taught how to cook, weave, and to help with other womanly chores. She was a very modest girl, and often covered her head with a mantle to help shield her eyes from the bright light that stung her eyes. Tekakwitha (the name means “She who bumps into things”), had difficulty in moving about because of her near-blindness, but despite this handicap, she became a very accomplished and skilled weaver and her beadwork was known for its beauty.

In 1666, when she was ten, several Mohawk villages were attacked and burnt by the French, who were allies of the Huron. The Mohawks were forced to abandon their villages and fled into the forest. Eventually, they made a peace treaty with the French which stipulated that they had to welcome Jesuit missionaries into their villages and allow them to preach and build missions in their lands. A Jesuit mission was soon built at modern-day Auriesville, New York, where the French priests studied the Mohawk language and began to preach to the people. It was at the age of eleven that Tekakwitha first met the Jesuit Fathers Jacques Frémin, Jacques Bruyas, and Jean Pierron. Her uncle feared that she would be converted to Christianity (like other members of his family) and so he opposed her interacting with them. Tekakwitha was very attracted to Christianity and listened eagerly to the preaching of the Jesuits when she was able. She especially was attracted to the idea of consecrated virginity for the sake of Christ. When Caughnawaga was attacked by Mohican warriors in 1669, it was Tekakwitha (along with other girls in the tribe) who assisted Fr. Pierron in tending to the wounded and sick.When the Mohicans were finally beaten back and a number were captured and cruelly tortured for several days by the Mohawks, Fr. Pierron begged the torturers to stop, but his pleas for mercy went unheeded. The priest tried to comfort the Mohican victims as much as possible, and taught them the faith and baptized them before they died under their excruciating tortures.

Struck by the mercy and kindness of the Jesuit priests, she grew in her love for the faith taught by the Christian missionaries and grew day by day more attracted to their life. Meanwhile, her family tried to pressure her into marrying. Once, in 1673, they even tried to trick her into a marriage by having her sit next to a young Mohawk warrior and had her present him with a special meal made with corn (this was a sign of an acceptance of a marriage proposal). Realizing the trick, she indignantly fled from the longhouse and took refuge in the woods. Her family thereafter ridiculed her fiercely and punished her by giving her the most difficult and exhausting tasks. She, however, continued to resist them and instead turned to the Jesuit priests for guidance, friendship and support. In 1674, Tekakwitha met Fr. Jacques de Lamberville while she was nursing an injured foot and she related her life story to him and told him that she wished to become a Christian. He assented, and he began teaching her the catechism and instructing her in the Faith.

She was baptized a year later on Easter Sunday, April 18th 1676 when she was nineteen years old, taking the name “Catherine” after St. Catherine of Siena. Ever after, she was known as Kateri Tekakwitha. She remained in her village for half a year, but she was persecuted so much for her conversion that Fr. Jacques recommended she travel to the Kahnawake mission near Montréal to live among other native converts. She followed his advice and arrived at Kahnawake in 1677. She quickly became friends with the other converts there, and was mentored by a woman named Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo who had been a friend of her mother’s. They formed a strong spiritual bond, and it was Anastasia who taught her about Christian ascetical practices and told her about nuns, which inspired Kateri with the desire to form a group of women religious.

While at Kahnawake, Kateri performed many ascetical practices as penance and to obtain conversion for her family members and her tribe. Following traditional Mohawk practices, she drew blood by kneeling or lying on mats made of thorns as a traditional way of giving thanksgiving for some benefit received. She also fasted and added bitter ingredients to her foods to make them taste unpleasant and even intentionally burned herself, in imitation of the pains she had witnessed the Mohawks inflict on others. Kateri, Anastatia, and their friend Marie-Thérèse readily took up these penances. But when Fr. Chauchetière was informed of these practices, he sternly forbade them from inflicting such harsh penances on themselves, and told them that penance should only be used in moderation and with the prudential guidance of a wise spiritual director. Thereafter they obeyed the priests and only undertook the penances that they were allowed to do.

On March 25th 1679, the Feast of the Annunciation, Kateri became a consecrated virgin, telling Fr. Pierre Cholonec: “I have deliberated enough. For a long time my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife.” About a year later, her health began to fail, until her friends realized that the end was near. The native converts, along with Fr. Chauchetière and Fr. Cholenec were at her bedside at her last hours. While she was on her deathbed, she told all of her friends at the mission that she would continue to love and pray for them in heaven. Fr. Cholenec performed the Last Rites, and while she was held in the arms of her dear friend Marie-Therèse, she breathed her last on Holy Wednesday, April 17th 1680, at the age of 24. Her final words were: “Jesus, Mary, I love you.”

Only a few minutes after her death, those present witnessed the miraculous disappearance of the smallpox marks that had scarred her face during the majority of her life. Her face instead appeared smooth and radiant, and she looked so beautiful that she only seemed to be in a gentle sleep. After death she appeared to Anastasia, Marie-Therèse, and Father Chauchetière. Anastasia reported that Kateri had appeared at the foot of her bed, “holding a wooden cross that shone like the sun.” Fr. Chauchetière built a chapel at her gravesite and later wrote a biography about her and painted a portrait of her. The epitaph on her gravestone read: Kateri Tekakwitha : The fairest flower that ever bloomed among red men. News of her great sanctity spread, and both Native Americans and the French settlers in Canada began praying to her for her intercession. Many miraculous healings were attributed to her, and she became the special patroness of Native Americans. She was beatified on June 22nd 1980 by Saint Pope John Paul II, and later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21st 2012. Her major shrine is at St. Francis Xavier Church at Kahnawake, in Québec, Canada.

“Now I wish to address the order of virgins. Because their way of life is more exalted, our concern for them must be greater. If we compare the Church to a tree, then they are its blossom. virgins show forth the beauty of God’s grace; they are the image of God that reflects the holiness of the Lord; they are the more illustrious members of Christ’s flock. They are the glory of mother Church and manifest her fruitfulness. The more numerous her virgins are, the greater is her joy.

To these virgins then I speak and address my exhortation, out of love rather than any sense of authority; and I do this without claiming the right to censure them, for I am among the last and the least and fully aware of my lowliness; I do it rather because the more anxious and concerned I am about them, the more I fear the devil’s attack. For it is no idle concern nor vain fear that takes thought of the path to salvation and keeps the Lord’s life-giving commandments.

They have dedicated themselves to Christ, and, renouncing the pleasures of the flesh, have consecrated themselves body and soul to God, in order to finish a task that is destined to win a great prize; they should not strive to adorn themselves or give pleasure to anyone but the Lord, from whom they hope to receive the reward for their chastity.

Virgins, persevere in the way of life you have begun, persevere in what you are to be. For you will receive a glorious prize for your virtue, a most excellent reward for your chastity. You have already begun to be now what we shall all be in the future. You already possess, here in this world, the glory of the resurrection. You pass through this world without the world’s infection. If you persevere in chastity and virginity, you are equal to God’s angels. Only keep your profession of virginity strong and inviolate. You began your way of life courageously, now persevere without faltering. Seek right conduct as your adornment, not jewelry or attractive clothing.

Listen to the voice of the Apostle Paul, God’s chosen vessel, sent to announce the commands of heaven. Paul said: The first man was made of the dust of the earth; the second is from heaven. Those who are made from earth are like him who was on the earth. Those who are of heaven are like him who is from heaven. As we have borne the image of the man who is of the earth, so let us bear the image of the man who is from heaven. This image is shown forth in virginity, purity, holiness and truth.”

~ from a sermon On the Dress of Virgins by St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha is celebrated on July 14th.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is the patron saint of ecologists, the environment, and Native Americans.

O God, who desired the Virgin Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
to flower among Native Americans
in a life of innocence,
grant, through her intercession,
that when all are gathered into your Church
from every nation, tribe and tongue,
they may magnify you
in a single canticle of praise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Description
St. Kateri Tekakwitha icon
© Cecilia Lawrence
September 2nd 2016
4.5 x 6 inches
Ink, watercolor, gold leaf

“I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary,
I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife.”
~ St. Kateri Tekakwitha

“Let us rejoice and shout for joy, because the Lord of all things
has favored this holy and glorious virgin with his love.”
~ from the Entrance Antiphon for St. Kateri Tekakwitha

This is my icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first canonized Native American saint from North America. I based my icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha off of the portrait painted of her by Fr. Claude Chauchetière, who knew her personally and was the first to write a biography about her life. It can be seen here: www.leveillee.net/kateri/canon… , thecatholicspirit.com/wp-conte… , www.zachej.sk/uploads/images/f… . I depicted her wearing a blue mantle with a long white shirt decorated with a pattern of little gold leaves. Her hands are crossed over her breast, as a sign of modesty, and she holds a cross and a rosary in her right hand and three lilies in her left. The cross represents her Christian faith and her love for Jesus Christ crucified, the rosary represents her devotion to Mary and her own life of prayer, and the lilies are symbolic of her purity and virginity.

:+: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE SAINT :+:

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 – April 17th 1680 A.D.), also known as the Lily of the Mohawks, she was born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (in modern-day upstate New York). Her mother Tagaskouita was a Christian Algonquin who had been taught her faith by French Jesuit missionaries at Trois-Rivières. She had been kidnapped during a raid on her village and taken by the Mohawk chief Kenneronkwa, who later married her and had her adopted into the Mohawk tribe. Their first child was Tekakwitha and they later had a son as well.

In 1661, the Mohawk village of Ossernenon was struck by a terrible smallpox epidemic which devastated the population and left many dead, including both of Tekakwitha’s parents and her little brother. She survived, but from the age of five her face was horribly ravaged by the marks of smallpox and greatly disfigured her face. The smallpox also left her nearly blind and affected her hearing. She was adopted by paternal aunt and was taken to the Mohawk village of Caughnawaga. She grew up there in the family longhouse and was taught how to cook, weave, and to help with other womanly chores. She was a very modest girl, and often covered her head with a mantle to help shield her eyes from the bright light that stung her eyes. Tekakwitha (the name means “She who bumps into things”), had difficulty in moving about because of her near-blindness, but despite this handicap, she became a very accomplished and skilled weaver and her beadwork was known for its beauty.

In 1666, when she was ten, several Mohawk villages were attacked and burnt by the French, who were allies of the Huron. The Mohawks were forced to abandon their villages and fled into the forest. Eventually, they made a peace treaty with the French which stipulated that they had to welcome Jesuit missionaries into their villages and allow them to preach and build missions in their lands. A Jesuit mission was soon built at modern-day Auriesville, New York, where the French priests studied the Mohawk language and began to preach to the people. It was at the age of eleven that Tekakwitha first met the Jesuit Fathers Jacques Frémin, Jacques Bruyas, and Jean Pierron. Her uncle feared that she would be converted to Christianity (like other members of his family) and so he opposed her interacting with them. Tekakwitha was very attracted to Christianity and listened eagerly to the preaching of the Jesuits when she was able. She especially was attracted to the idea of consecrated virginity for the sake of Christ. When Caughnawaga was attacked by Mohican warriors in 1669, it was Tekakwitha (along with other girls in the tribe) who assisted Fr. Pierron in tending to the wounded and sick.When the Mohicans were finally beaten back and a number were captured and cruelly tortured for several days by the Mohawks, Fr. Pierron begged the torturers to stop, but his pleas for mercy went unheeded. The priest tried to comfort the Mohican victims as much as possible, and taught them the faith and baptized them before they died under their excruciating tortures.

Struck by the mercy and kindness of the Jesuit priests, she grew in her love for the faith taught by the Christian missionaries and grew day by day more attracted to their life. Meanwhile, her family tried to pressure her into marrying. Once, in 1673, they even tried to trick her into a marriage by having her sit next to a young Mohawk warrior and had her present him with a special meal made with corn (this was a sign of an acceptance of a marriage proposal). Realizing the trick, she indignantly fled from the longhouse and took refuge in the woods. Her family thereafter ridiculed her fiercely and punished her by giving her the most difficult and exhausting tasks. She, however, continued to resist them and instead turned to the Jesuit priests for guidance, friendship and support. In 1674, Tekakwitha met Fr. Jacques de Lamberville while she was nursing an injured foot and she related her life story to him and told him that she wished to become a Christian. He assented, and he began teaching her the catechism and instructing her in the Faith.

She was baptized a year later on Easter Sunday, April 18th 1676 when she was nineteen years old, taking the name “Catherine” after St. Catherine of Siena. Ever after, she was known as Kateri Tekakwitha. She remained in her village for half a year, but she was persecuted so much for her conversion that Fr. Jacques recommended she travel to the Kahnawake mission near Montréal to live among other native converts. She followed his advice and arrived at Kahnawake in 1677. She quickly became friends with the other converts there, and was mentored by a woman named Anastasia Tegonhatsiongo who had been a friend of her mother’s. They formed a strong spiritual bond, and it was Anastasia who taught her about Christian ascetical practices and told her about nuns, which inspired Kateri with the desire to form a group of women religious.

While at Kahnawake, Kateri performed many ascetical practices as penance and to obtain conversion for her family members and her tribe. Following traditional Mohawk practices, she drew blood by kneeling or lying on mats made of thorns as a traditional way of giving thanksgiving for some benefit received. She also fasted and added bitter ingredients to her foods to make them taste unpleasant and even intentionally burned herself, in imitation of the pains she had witnessed the Mohawks inflict on others. Kateri, Anastatia, and their friend Marie-Thérèse readily took up these penances. But when Fr. Chauchetière was informed of these practices, he sternly forbade them from inflicting such harsh penances on themselves, and told them that penance should only be used in moderation and with the prudential guidance of a wise spiritual director. Thereafter they obeyed the priests and only undertook the penances that they were allowed to do.

On March 25th 1679, the Feast of the Annunciation, Kateri became a consecrated virgin, telling Fr. Pierre Cholonec: “I have deliberated enough. For a long time my decision on what I will do has been made. I have consecrated myself entirely to Jesus, son of Mary, I have chosen Him for husband and He alone will take me for wife.” About a year later, her health began to fail, until her friends realized that the end was near. The native converts, along with Fr. Chauchetière and Fr. Cholenec were at her bedside at her last hours. While she was on her deathbed, she told all of her friends at the mission that she would continue to love and pray for them in heaven. Fr. Cholenec performed the Last Rites, and while she was held in the arms of her dear friend Marie-Therèse, she breathed her last on Holy Wednesday, April 17th 1680, at the age of 24. Her final words were: “Jesus, Mary, I love you.”

Only a few minutes after her death, those present witnessed the miraculous disappearance of the smallpox marks that had scarred her face during the majority of her life. Her face instead appeared smooth and radiant, and she looked so beautiful that she only seemed to be in a gentle sleep. After death she appeared to Anastasia, Marie-Therèse, and Father Chauchetière. Anastasia reported that Kateri had appeared at the foot of her bed, “holding a wooden cross that shone like the sun.” Fr. Chauchetière built a chapel at her gravesite and later wrote a biography about her and painted a portrait of her. The epitaph on her gravestone read: Kateri Tekakwitha : The fairest flower that ever bloomed among red men. News of her great sanctity spread, and both Native Americans and the French settlers in Canada began praying to her for her intercession. Many miraculous healings were attributed to her, and she became the special patroness of Native Americans. She was beatified on June 22nd 1980 by Saint Pope John Paul II, and later canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21st 2012. Her major shrine is at St. Francis Xavier Church at Kahnawake, in Québec, Canada.

“Now I wish to address the order of virgins. Because their way of life is more exalted, our concern for them must be greater. If we compare the Church to a tree, then they are its blossom. virgins show forth the beauty of God’s grace; they are the image of God that reflects the holiness of the Lord; they are the more illustrious members of Christ’s flock. They are the glory of mother Church and manifest her fruitfulness. The more numerous her virgins are, the greater is her joy.

To these virgins then I speak and address my exhortation, out of love rather than any sense of authority; and I do this without claiming the right to censure them, for I am among the last and the least and fully aware of my lowliness; I do it rather because the more anxious and concerned I am about them, the more I fear the devil’s attack. For it is no idle concern nor vain fear that takes thought of the path to salvation and keeps the Lord’s life-giving commandments.

They have dedicated themselves to Christ, and, renouncing the pleasures of the flesh, have consecrated themselves body and soul to God, in order to finish a task that is destined to win a great prize; they should not strive to adorn themselves or give pleasure to anyone but the Lord, from whom they hope to receive the reward for their chastity.

Virgins, persevere in the way of life you have begun, persevere in what you are to be. For you will receive a glorious prize for your virtue, a most excellent reward for your chastity. You have already begun to be now what we shall all be in the future. You already possess, here in this world, the glory of the resurrection. You pass through this world without the world’s infection. If you persevere in chastity and virginity, you are equal to God’s angels. Only keep your profession of virginity strong and inviolate. You began your way of life courageously, now persevere without faltering. Seek right conduct as your adornment, not jewelry or attractive clothing.

Listen to the voice of the Apostle Paul, God’s chosen vessel, sent to announce the commands of heaven. Paul said: The first man was made of the dust of the earth; the second is from heaven. Those who are made from earth are like him who was on the earth. Those who are of heaven are like him who is from heaven. As we have borne the image of the man who is of the earth, so let us bear the image of the man who is from heaven. This image is shown forth in virginity, purity, holiness and truth.”

~ from a sermon On the Dress of Virgins by St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha is celebrated on July 14th.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is the patron saint of ecologists, the environment, and Native Americans.

O God, who desired the Virgin Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
to flower among Native Americans
in a life of innocence,
grant, through her intercession,
that when all are gathered into your Church
from every nation, tribe and tongue,
they may magnify you
in a single canticle of praise.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.