Not Just Another Pretty Face

July 13, 2011 by Pat Gohn

Continued from Page 1

Kateri Tekakwitha died just before her 24th birthday on April 17, 1680, her last words being "Jesus, Mary, I love you."

It is said that just as she died, she smiled, and her scarred face cleared up miraculously. What more can be said about the grace of holiness becoming one's true beauty from within?

Known today as the "Lily of the Mohawks," Kateri's tombstone reads that she was "the most beautiful flower that bloomed among the Indians." Devotion to her is responsible for numerous ministries among Native American populations in the United States and Canada.

Beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, and considered a patron saint of ecologists, environmentalists, those in exile, those who have lost parents, and those ridiculed for their piety, Kateri was named the patron saint of World Youth Day in 2002. Currently the church is investigating whether her intercessory prayers are responsible for what appears to be the miraculous taming of a flesh-eating bacteria that was destroying a young boy's face and threatening his life. Should this event be found to be of unexplainable and miraculous origin, Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha may soon be added to the canon of saints.

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A Word in Season

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About Pat Gohn

Pat Gohn is a Catholic writer, speaker, and the host of the Among Women Podcast and blog. Her book Blessed, Beautiful and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood is published by Ave Maria Press.

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