Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

“Look at this cross. Oh, how beautiful it is! It has been my whole happiness during my life, and I advise you also to make it yours!” —St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri was born into a Mohawk tribe and at just four years old, a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and brother and left her with terrible scars and impaired vision. She was given the name “Tekakwitha”, which means “She walks groping for her way,” and took to wearing a shawl to cover her face. She converted to Christianity at 19 after learning about the faith from Jesuit missionaries and was baptized, taking the name Kateri in honour of St. Catherine of Sienna. Despite facing persecution from her own people, she dedicated her life to prayer and chastity. She eventually moved to a Jesuit mission near Montreal, where she lived with extraordinary devotion until her death at just 24 years old. She was the first Native American woman to be declared a saint.

I depicted her drawing her shawl away from her face, for although her physical sight was damaged, she saw with such spiritual clarity as she looked towards Heaven.