Feast day of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Today is the feast day of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. She is considered a patroness of ecology & the environment. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1980.

Her father was a Mohawk chief and her mother a Catholic Algonquin - tribes from New York state (where I was born.)

The link above has her biography, and many links to more sites about her. It also includes a lesson plan, for those interested in that :)

I'm drawn to stories of people who are willing to be outcast for their faith. I feel so fortunate that I am able to freely practice my faith, and only meet with mild derision from my family for doing so. I would hope that I would have strong enough faith to continue to proclaim my beliefs -- even at the risk of losing those I love most.

This is a prayer for her canonization:

O God who, among the many marvels of Your Grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender Lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech You, the favor we beg through her intercession; that this Young Lover of Jesus and of His Cross may soon be counted among her Saints by Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocence and faith. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.