St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Window is RESERVED
St. Kateri Tekatwitha Stained Glass Window in the Newman Center

About the Window

Represented holding a wood cross, dressed in traditional Mohawk attire, with a small child (representing her work with children). The background represents the mountains and nature land­scape of where she lived.

Biography 

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is the first Native American to be rec­ognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She was born in 1656, in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon. Her mother was an Algonquin, who was captured by the Mohawks and who took a Mohawk chief for her husband.

Her name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took from St. Catherine of Siena.

She contracted smallpox as a four-year-old child which scarred her skin. The scars were a source of humiliation in her youth. She was commonly seen wearing a blanket to hide her face. Worse, her entire family died during the outbreak. Kateri Tekakwitha was subsequently raised by her uncle, who was the chief of a Mohawk clan.
Kateri was known as a skilled worker, who was diligent and patient. However, she refused to marry. When her adoptive parents proposed a suitor to her, she refused to entertain the proposal. They punished her by giving her more work to do, but she did not give in. Instead, she remained quiet and diligent. Eventually, they were forced to relent and ac­cept that she had no interest in marriage.

When Kateri was 18 years of age, she began learning the Catholic faith in secret. Her uncle finally relented and gave his consent for Kateri to become a Christian, provided that she did not try to leave the Indian village. For joining the Catholic Church, Kateri was ridiculed and scorned by villagers. She was subjected to unfair accusations and her life was threatened. Nearly two years after her baptism, in St. Peter’s Chapel at the present Kateri Shrine in Fonda, she escaped to the Mission of St. Francis Xavier, a settlement of Christian Natives in Canada. The village in Canada was also named Caughnawaga (Kahnawake). Here she was known for her gentleness, kindness, and good humor. 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. She also offered herself to the Blessed Mother Mary to accept her as a daughter.
During her time in Canada, 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 Jesus.

During the last years of her life, Kateri endured great suf­fering from a serious illness. She died on April 17, 1680, shortly before her 24th birthday, and was buried in present-day Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada. Tradition holds that Kateri’s final words were. . .” Jesus, I love you,” after which she embraced her creator for all eter­nity.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 21, 2012. She is the patroness of ecology and the environment, people in exile, and Native Americans.