Monday, July 14, 2014

Kateri Tekakwitha, “ The Lily of the Mohawks”.



Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, was canonized on 10/21/2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

Kateri was born near the town of Auriesville, New York, in the year 1656, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior. She was four years old when her mother died of smallpox. The disease also attacked Kateri and transfigured her face. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle. Kateri became converted as a teenager. She was baptized at the age of twenty and incurred the great hostility of her tribe. Although she had to suffer greatly for her Faith, she remained firm in it. Kateri went to the new Christian colony of Indians in Canada. Here she lived a life dedicated to prayer, penitential practices, and care for the sick and aged. Every morning, even in bitterest winter, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She was devoted to the Eucharist and to Jesus Crucified. She died on April 17, 1680 at the age of twenty-four. She is known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". Devotion to Kateri is responsible for establishing Native American ministries in Catholic Churches all over the United States and Canada. Kateri was declared venerable by the Catholic Church in 1943 and she was Beatified in 1980. Hundreds of thousands have visited shrines to Kateri erected at both St. Francis Xavier and Caughnawaga and at her birth place at Auriesville, New York. Pilgrimages at these sites continue today. 

(Catholic online) Carholic.org


Today the 
Poor Clare Colettines TMD are sharing the beautiful, meaningful chaplet of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha,Blessed Kateri  has been made the Patron of Ecology  and of course of the American native Indians.

Blessed Kateri’s chaplet is beautiful to pray, it consists of 24 beads ( the number of years of her life), the beads are one decade brown, one red, and one white or crystal. First  you will find the text that explains how it is normally prayed after I will give you an alternative suggestion, both are potentially fruitful and worthwhile.

CHAPLET OF KATERI TEKAKWITHA

1. Kiss the Cross and make the Sign of the Cross with it, saying, "In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." .

2. Recite an Our Father on each of the 8 Brown Beads; a Hail Mary on each of the 8 Red Beads; and a Glory Be on each of the 8 Crystal Beads.

3. Make the Sign of the Cross as above.

EXPLANATION AND MEANING OF THIS CHAPLET

THE CROSS

The cross is of Sturolite, nature's amazing wonder mineral found in the shape of tiny crosses in the Blue ridge Mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and New Mexico.

THE 24 BEADS

Kateri, whose name means, "Putting things in order" and "moving all things before her," was 24 when she departed from this world; the beads symbolize her 24 short but fruitful years on earth.

BROWN BEADS

Earth colors are popular with Indians and brown is the predominantly color of earth. Kateri's moccasins in which she walked the woods distributing her handmade crosses, were brown also.

RED BEADS

Red [Moonstone red] is the traditional color for love, symbolizing God's love for this sweet Saint and the love she bore Him in the Eucharist and for His Blessed Mother.

Ask Kateri's intercession to Mary to form this love in all our hearts and to lead us back to Christ when we fall away.

CRYSTAL BEADS.Represent the rivers and waters so loved of the indians

There is an Indian legend that on the day that Christ died on the Cross, the woodland animals wept, their tiny tears falling upon the earth and crystallizing into these tiny crosses.

Kateri’s Chaplet in Simplicity and Peace

Prayed in the company of Blessed Kateri, ex corde-from the heart.

The Brown Beads focus upon God as Creator and Father, giving thanks for the wonders of his hands, and thanking him for having created me, for loving me. On each bead I offer some ejaculation of love.... or even just Father, My Father.

The Red Beads, I focus upon Jesus and his supreme offering upon the Cross for me, for his tremendous love.... I recall  the precious blood and his abiding presence in the Eucharist. On each bead I whisper his name, or offer some simple prayer from the heart.

 

The White or crystal beads, I focus upon the Great White Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the fount of living water, the light of life, and pray upon the beads, Come sweet Spirit of grace....

At the End I adore the Trinity and spend sometime in union with the Three.



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