Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
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Among those native people was Kateri Tekakwitha. She was born in 1656 to a Christian Algonquin mother and a Mohawk warrior father. They lived in a Mohawk village in what is now the state of New York.
The Mohawk nation rejected Christian missionaries. In fact, they martyred two Jesuits—Isaac Jogues and Jean de Lalande—in 1646, just 10 years before Kateri was born. So Kateri’s mother could not practice her Christian religion in the Mohawk village that had become her home.
When Kateri was still a child, her parents died of smallpox. She survived, but the disease scarred her face. Then, in 1676—when Kateri was 20—another Jesuit missionary came to the Mohawks. Once again, they said no to his good news. But Kateri accepted the Christian God, and the missionary baptized her.
Now Kateri not only looked different, she was different. So the villagers began to abuse her. Fearful for her life, Kateri fled into the dense forest beyond her village. Alone, she trekked 200 miles to Montreal, Canada.
For the next four years—until her death in 1680—Kateri stayed in Montreal. She taught small children and cared for the sick and elderly. As she did these things, her holiness impressed everyone who met her. They called her the “Lily of the Mohawks.”
Connecting to Faith First® Legacy Edition
Grade 2, chapter 24
Connecting to Faith First®
Grade 2, chapter 24