Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, known as the 'Lily of the Mohawks,' was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, New York), the daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Christian Algonquin mother. Disfigured by smallpox in her childhood, she also suffered from impaired vision. She converted to Christianity at the age of 19, being baptized on Easter Sunday 1676 by a Jesuit missionary. Her conversion and her refusal to marry, having taken a vow of perpetual virginity, brought her persecution and hostility from her tribe. In 1677, she fled to the Jesuit mission of Kahnawake (present-day Quebec, Canada), where she lived a life of exemplary piety, marked by intense devotion to the Eucharist and the Cross, rigorous penances, and ardent charity towards the sick and elderly. She died at the age of 24 on April 17, 1680. Her last words were: 'Jesus, I love you.' Immediately after her death, her face, disfigured by illness, reportedly regained its original beauty. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012, becoming the first Native American saint.