St Kateri

Kateri was born in an Aboriginal village which is now part of New York State.  She was born in a village where very few people believed in Jesus.  Both her parents died of small pox when she was very young. Kateri also had small pox but survived; she was therefore raised by her Uncle.  Jesuit missionaries had come to Kateri’s village 10 years before she was born to share the good news with the people there, but they were killed because of their faith in God.  Some people did become Christians and were living the Christian faith very quietly in the village, so that they would not be hurt by those who did not believe.  When Kateri was still very young, Jesuit missionaries came to visit her Uncle and they spoke about Jesus and prayed with her family.  This was the time that Kateri got to know who Jesus was and she started to have faith in Him.  When she turned 18 she was baptized and devoted her life to God, even though she knew it would be difficult to live for Christ when so few people around her believed.  Things became so difficult that Kateri left her village and joined a Christian village near Montreal, in Canada.  There she was able to live out that last few years of her life as a devoted Christian.  She became sick after being in Canada for 3 years and almost lost all her sight, but she did not let anything stop her from praising God for all He had done for her.  After she died many miracles happened through St. Kateri’s prayers.  Kateri became a Saint on October 21, 2012.