Hello There!

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Hello, my name is  St.Kateri Tekakwitha. I was born in 1656 in New Netherlands in what is now Auriesville, New York. During my early life, my mother was a Christian Algonquin Native American and my father was a pagan Mohawk chief. At the age of 4, they both died with my brother from the smallpox epidemic in my village. I hardly survived, but I was left blind and with scars covering my face.

   

I followed Jesus by listening to my mother’s friends’ stories of God. She took care of me before my uncle took me in. I was forced to get married, but I didn’t. I believed that God was my only love. I then traveled to a Christian Indian mission 200 miles away because my village threatened me for my belief. There I learned more about God through Father Jacques De Lambertville. At the age of 18, he baptized me on Easter in 1676. Then, I changed my name to Catherine. I took my first communion on Christmas in 1676. I then served God at the mission through prayer and fasting. 

 

There are 2 miracles attributed to me. When I died, my last words were about Christ. After I spoke, the scars on my face disappeared. Another miracle that I am responsible for happened after my death. A boy with a flesh eating bacteria prayed to me, and later on it disappeared. 

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I died on April 17, 1680 and I was beautified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II. I became a saint on October 21 by Pope Benedict XVI. My feast day is my feast day is July 14. I am the patron saint of ecology, the environment, exiles, orphans, those ridiculed for their faith, and world youth day