Every year, there are a few saints who surprise me.
Not because I had never heard of them before, but because I finally slowed down enough to really learn their story.
That happened to me this past school year while teaching history to my third-grade class. We were studying the 1600s and the discovery of the New World, and part of that journey included learning about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. I had known she was the first Indigenous North American saint, but reading her story alongside my students gave me a much deeper appreciation for her remarkable witness.
Sometimes teaching is one of the best ways to learn.
Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” St. Kateri Tekakwitha was born in 1656 in present-day Upstate New York. She was the daughter of a Mohawk chief and an Algonquin Catholic mother. At just four years old, a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and younger brother. Though Kateri survived, the disease left her scarred, partially blind, and orphaned.
She was raised by relatives who opposed Christianity. Despite her poor eyesight, she spent her days tending fields, gathering firewood, and helping care for her community.
It would have been understandable if suffering had made her bitter.
Instead, it prepared her heart for Christ.
When Jesuit missionaries visited her village, Kateri became fascinated by the Catholic faith. At eighteen, she was baptized by Father Jacques de Lamberville, taking the name Catherine, or Kateri in Mohawk.
Her baptism marked the beginning of a life of profound courage.
A Faith Worth Risking Everything For
Her relatives expected her to marry, but Kateri believed Jesus was calling her to belong completely to Him. She refused every proposal and eventually made a vow of perpetual chastity.
The decision came with consequences.
Her family gave her harder work. Neighbors mocked her. Some even accused her of sorcery because of her Christian faith. Eventually, the persecution became so severe that she left everything she had ever known and traveled to a Christian Indigenous community near Montreal, where she could freely practice her faith.
One of my favorite quotes from St. Kateri captures the spirit of that decision:
“My Jesus, I must risk everything with You.”
What a striking sentence.
Most of us don’t naturally associate following Christ with risk. We often think of faith as something that fits comfortably into our existing lives. But Kateri understood something many of us forget. Sometimes saying “yes” to Jesus means risking comfort, acceptance, security, or even relationships.
She risked all of those things.
And she never regretted it.
In her new community, Kateri devoted herself to prayer, cared for the sick and elderly, taught children about God, and quietly served those around her. She never sought recognition. She simply wanted to love Christ faithfully in the ordinary moments of each day.
Another of her words beautifully reveals the heart behind everything she did:
“I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus. He must be my only love.”
That sentence stopped me the first time I read it.
The Quiet Path to Holiness
It’s one thing to admire that kind of surrender. It’s another thing to ask whether we’re willing to live it ourselves.
Most of us won’t be asked to leave our homes because of our faith. But we are regularly invited to choose Christ over comfort. We choose Him when we forgive someone who wounded us. We choose Him when we remain faithful despite suffering. We choose Him when we defend the truth with both courage and charity. We choose Him whenever obedience costs us something.
Kateri reminds us that holiness isn’t reserved for people with extraordinary talents or public platforms. She lived only twenty-four years. She never founded a religious order or wrote a famous book. Yet her quiet fidelity still echoes across the centuries.
When she died in 1680, witnesses reported that the scars left by smallpox disappeared from her face, which became radiant and peaceful. For those gathered around her bedside, it was a beautiful confirmation of the holiness they had already seen throughout her life.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI canonized her after recognizing a miracle attributed to her intercession. Today, St. Kateri is the patron saint of Native Americans, people in exile, and ecology.
As I think back to those history lessons with my third graders, I’m grateful that learning about the seventeenth century also introduced us to one of its greatest witnesses to Christ. St. Kateri’s story reminds us that the Gospel is truly universal. God’s grace reaches every culture, every people, and every heart willing to say yes to Him.
May we have the courage to echo her words in our own lives: “My Jesus, I must risk everything with You.”
A Prayer to St. Kateri Tekakwitha
O Great Lily of the Mohawks, we ask that you take our intentions to the foot of the cross. Ask Jesus to bring healing to those who are heavily burdened. Through your intercession, may this favor be granted if it is according to the will of God. By your prayer, help us always to remain faithful to Jesus and to his Holy Church. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, pray for us. Amen.
Related Links
There’s a comic book about Saint Kateri!
Pope Benedict XVI’s Homily at the Canonization Mass of Saint Kateri
