July 13, 2025

July 13, 2025  • Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parish Family:

It is said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Monday, July 14, we celebrate one of North America’s newest saints who proved that saying true. Nine years after the Jesuit Missionary Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and the Companions were tomahawked by Iroquois warriors, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York.  Her name was Kateri Tekakwitha. She was born in 1656 to an Algonquin mother and a Mohawk Chief.  Her parents and brother died of smallpox when she was only

four years old.  Kateri survived the disease, but it left her face badly scarred and her eyesight impaired. Kateri was named “Tekakwitha,” which means “she who bumps into things.”

She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief.  He hated the Jesuit missionaries.  But Kateri was moved by their preaching and wanted to learn more about the Jesus they talked about.  In accordance with Iroquois custom, she was paired with a young boy whom she was expected to marry. She refused. When Kateri was 18 years of age, she began instruction in the Catholic faith in secret. Her uncle finally relented and consented for Kateri to become a Christian, provided that she would not leave their Indian village. She was baptized on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676.  She was ridiculed and scorned by villagers. People spread rumors about her, and her life was threatened. She escaped to a settlement of Christian Indians in Canada. On Christmas Day 1677, Kateri made her First Holy Communion, and on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1679, made a vow of perpetual virginity.

Kateri taught prayers to children and worked with the elderly and sick. She would often go to Mass both at dawn and sunset. She was known for her great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and to the Cross of Christ. She would make wooden crosses and attach them to trees as a sign of faith.  In her final years, Kateri endured great suffering from a serious illness. She died on April 17th, 1680, (the day before Holy Thursday) shortly before her 24th birthday. She was buried in Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada. Kateri’s final words were: “Jesus — Mary — I love you.”

Witnesses reported that within a few minutes of her death, the pock marks from smallpox completely vanished. Before her death, Kateri promised her friends that she would continue to love and pray for them in heaven.  Native Americans and settlers immediately began praying for her heavenly intercession. Many healing miracles were attributed to her. She was beatified in 1980 and canonized on October 21, 2012. 

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks, pray for us!

Love and prayers,
Father Neil Sullivan