Lily of the Mohawk

Some of my favorite childhood memories are the trips my family took to Cross Lake in Minnesota to go fishing.  There were meals together, games of shuffleboard, and of course a lot of fishing.  It was also during these trips to an area steeped in the culture and traditions of the First Nations of North America that I first met Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17^th century member of the Mohawk tribe and convert to Christianity. For some reason, I remembered hearing about her and seeing her statue even though I was pretty young at the time.  During one of those trips, I received a prayer card with her picture on it, and it remained in my night stand for many years. I would again encounter Kateri during family vacations in northern Michigan and when I travelled to the Rose Bud Reservation as part of a UD service program.  

Statue of Kateri Tekakwitha (from the web)

This weekend, Kateri once again came into my life…and the lives of many other people around the world.  This morning in St. Peter’s Square Pope Benedict XVI declared her a saint along with six others (including Mother Marianne Cope who worked with the leper community in Hawaii).  The Pope declared them "to be saints and that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church.”  

The tapestry of St. Kateri that was hung in St. Peter's Square (from the web).

Kateri was born in 1656 to an Algonquin Christian mother and a Mohawk chief near Albany, NY.  When she was four years old, her parents and brother died of smallpox, and Kateri was left scarred from the smallpox lesions she had suffered.  At the age of 20, and against the wishes of her uncle, she was baptized by Jesuit missionaries, and she refused to be married.  As a result, she was ostracized by her family and moved near Montreal and joined a community of Christian Natives.  Here, she was described as having strong Christian fervor and devotion.  She died at the early age of 24, and from then has been hailed as a saint by the Jesuits and many other people.  Today, that conviction is officially recognized by the Church.

While I did not attend the Canonization Mass on Sunday, I did go to a Vigil service held the night before at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.  

At the Vigil with Bro. Les, Bro. Javier, and Fr. Pachi.

It was quite a moving experience for me.  First, there is the “national” connection.  She lived in the present day U.S. and Canada (around Albany, NY and Montreal) and so we sort of claim her as our own – the Basilica was filled with many Canadians and Americans.  I also must say that it was special to celebrate with Fr. Louis, a Canadian Marianist who lives with us in Rome.   

With Fr. Louis.

Second, as I wrote above, I seem to have some sort of connection with Kateri – she just keeps “popping up” in different points of my life.  It's somewhat astonishing to think that I would again encounter this saint in Rome whom I first met as a child.

Furthermore, the vigil began with a traditional “Smudging Ceremony” where sage, sweet grass, cedar, and tobacco are burned like an incense that is then brushed over the people with a feather.  For me, it was quite an expression of an inculturated Church: women in traditional indigenous clothing smudging the diverse congregation in a Roman Basilica with a Cardinal looking on!  

Cardinal Ouellet with an image of Kateri.

The processional.

Finally, the vigil began with a video that chronicled Kateri’s life and the story of the miracle attributed to her.  A few years ago, a boy named Jake from Seattle contracted a flesh-eating virus and was given little hope of survival.  A network of supporters began praying to Kateri, and after a religious Sister (who took the name of Kateri when she entered her order) prayed over Jake with a relic of Kateri, the disease stopped without explanation.  Jake and his family were at the vigil.  It was striking that the young saint who was left with scars on her face would intercede for a young person whose cured disease also left some scars on his face.

A candid picture with Jake.  (There were so many people wanting to meet him, I just found my way behind and Fr. Louis snapped this picture.) 

Evidently, when Jake had been asked earlier about his trip to Rome, he simply said, “It’s pretty cool.”  I will echo his sentiments and say that to be with him and the many other pilgrims who came to celebrate St. Kateri was “pretty cool.”  

St. Kateri, pray for us!

Ciao!

P.S. Now, everyone needs to start praying fervently for the canonization of Fr. Chaminade so that the whole Marianist Family can have this much fun, too!!!!

And just one more picture...

Fr. Louis and I with Cardinal Collins of Toronto.