US Mass of Thanksgiving for canonization of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha

Saint Kateri Tekawitha

On Saturday, 26 January, the Most Reverend Richard Smith, Archbishop of Edmonton and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and the Most Reverend Lionel Gendron, PSS, Bishop of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, will represent the Bishops of Canada at the US National Mass of Thanksgiving for the canonization of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. The Mass will be celebrated in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The celebration is being organized by the US Black and Indian Mission Office, also in Washington, DC.

His Eminence Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, will preside. The homilist will be the Most Reverend Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia. This Mass will also celebrate the canonization of St Marianne Cope, who was declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 October, 2012 with St Kateri and five other new saints. St Marianne joined the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York, in 1862. She became a leader in the field of healthcare, especially for those considered "outcasts". Her work led her to become a volunteer on the Hawaiian island of Molokai where she carried on the ministry of Saint Damian in caring for the poor and those with Hansen's disease (also called leprosy).

Saint Kateri, who is also known as the 'Lily of the Mohawks', was born in 1656 in Ossernenon (today Auriesville, New York), the daughter of a Catholic Algonquin mother and a Mohawk Chief. She died in 1680 in Kahnawake, south of Montreal. Kahnawake today is part of the Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil.

Salt + Light Television will be airing live the Mass of Thanksgiving and the coverage will also be simulcast on the Salt + Light website:http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/general/mass-of-thanksgiving-for-the-canonization-of-st-kateri-tekakwitha-and-st-marianne-cope January, 26 at 2pm (Eastern Time), with repeats at 6pm and midnight (Eastern Time).

SOURCE: CCCB