Tekakwitha, Blessed Kateri

Tekakwitha, Blessed Kateri (1656–80) Indian Catholic convert; born in Ossernenon, in Mohawk territory (now Auriesville, N.Y.) When she was three years old, a smallpox epidemic killed her mother (a Catholic but not allowed to practice) and father; she herself was scarred and partially blinded by the disease. Raised by an anti-Catholic uncle, but inspired by Jesuit missionaries, she took instruction and was baptized a Catholic at age 20. To escape continuing persecution she fled a year later to a Christian Indian village near Montreal, where, in her brief remaining life, she became noted for religious fervor and extreme asceticism. She was beatified in 1980.