Lily of the Mohawks

The statue of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Estella Loretto, Native American sculptress, was unveiled August 16, 2003, at the very beautiful Saint Francis Basilic...
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The statue of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Estella Loretto, Native American sculptress, was unveiled August 16, 2003, at the very beautiful Saint Francis Basilica in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It’s a full-sized statue but in this photograph, I’ve cropped all but her elegant hand. Archbishop Michael Sheehan commissioned the statue’s sculture "as a sign of my love for her and also as a sign of my love for the Native Americans of the archdiocese."

Her name, Kateri, is the Mohawk form of Catherine, which she took from St. Catherine of Siena. Kateri was a Mohawk and Algonquin Indian born in 1656 along the Mohawk River Valley in what is now central New York state. She was baptized a Catholic at age 20. She was only 24 when she died in 1680 from illnesses remaining from childhood smallpox. Those at her bedside are said to have witnessed the smallpox scars on her face disappear a few minutes after her death. Her remains are at a mission on the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

In 1943, she was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII. In 1980, she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. 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.

Her statue is one of the most moving one I’ve seen. There’s a feeling of peace surrounding her.

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