Saint Kateri Tekawitha - feast tomorrow - the miracle that led to her canonization

The physicians were discussing with the family about donating the boy's organs ...That's how hopeless it was. His name is Jake Finkbonner. His father is a full Native American.

When I was in grammar school, way back in the sixties, the Franciscan sister teachers taught about her. At that point she was "merely" venerable - she had not been beatified.  Kateri was called "the lily of the Mohawks" and died at the age of 24 in 1680. She was born in Auriesville, NY.  Her life is an interesting story - she contracted small pox when she was four - it wiped out the rest of her family, and left her face scarred and with very poor eyesight. The Mohawks gave her the name tekawitha, which means "she who bumps into things", so I guess they had a sense of humor.

Kateri is a patron saint of many things including ecologists, ecology, environmentalism, environmentalists, loss of parents, people in exile, people ridiculed for their piety, Native Americans.

Here's the canonization miracle - you can read it here Boy's miracle cure makes 1st Native American saint    and I've taken pictures from EWTN below.

In brief, in 2006 he got a facial cut while playing basketball when he was five years old - and it got infected. A flesh-eating bacteria.

And it went horribly bad very quickly. Throughout his head and into his skull.

 You can barely recognize that this is his lip. After several weeks the physicians were helpless and started discussing with his parents donating his organs.

There are multiple Kateri Tekawitha native American prayer groups around the country. A priest organized them to petition Kateri. And a native American religous sister by the name of Sister Kateri brought a relic to the family and it was placed on Jake. The next day - the physicians saw that it had stopped spreading.

He had to have multiple reconstructive surgeries. 

As always, the situation was deeply looked into by the Vatican. His physicians and outside experts could find no reason for his recovery. Several people converted to the Catholic faith because of the miraculous healing. It became the miracle accepted by the Church for the canonization of Kateri Tekawitha. At the canonization Jake and his family all received communion from the pope.

Here is Jake a couple of years ago. He wants to become a plastic surgeon. Jake believes he was cured to bring others to Faith.

 

 

 

Comments

[the Grail of Gush - Sweat]

St. Kateri Tekakwitha is a great saint, but one would be most remiss and defaultant not to note that tomorrow is also the Feast Day of that remarkable Franciscan saint, the Great St. Bonaventure.

[Regina Montana]

The St. Kateri Tekawitha story is amazing. I had never heard about the cure. Poor boy and all he went through. God bless him.