Kateri Tekakwitha, first Native American saint, was born in 17th Century New France, then orphaned and handicapped by smallpox. Her embrace of Christianity and extraordinary purity of faith inspire a troubled priest.

This is the inspiring story of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a holy young Indian woman who was converted to Christianity by French missionaries during the 1600s. Ostracized from the Iroquois who had adopted her, Kateri lived as a single woman with deep faith, offering her sufferings and life to Christ. Affectionately known as "Lily of the Mohawks", she was recently beautified by Pope John Paul II. Illustrated.

Kateri Tekakwitha was a convert to Catholicism about one hundred years before America fought its Revolutionary War. Her life in the Mohawk Indian tribe and struggles to practice her faith in a savage wilderness have inspired many.

This authoritative account of the first Native American woman to be declared a saint by the Church is sure to inspire you. Discover an extraordinary young woman who was called by Pope Blessed John Paul II, God's "bountiful gift" to His Church and a "sweet, frail yet strong figure of a young woman who died when she was only twenty-four years old: Kateri Tekakwitha, the 'Lily of the Mohawks.'" The daughter of a Mohawk chief and a Roman Catholic mother, Kateri (baptized Catherine) Tekakwitha (1656-1680) forms a unique bridge between the Native American community and the Church. Kateri was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. Kateri Tekakwitha's faith and love for Christ in the face of overwhelming hostility and her own debilitating illnesses will encourage you as you seek God's grace to overcome challenges in your own life! She is a powerful role model for converts to the Church, young people striving for chastity, and anyone looking to deepen their own prayer life. She is also a shining example that God's call to holiness is truly universal and is heard by men and women in all walks of life and all ages. Written by experienced and prolific authors Matthew and Margaret Bunson, St. Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks is the most definitive biography of Kateri Tekakwitha. Experience the extraordinary stories of the French Jesuit missionaries, the famed Blackrobes," in the wilderness of North America and the heroic conversions of the Native Americans to the Catholic faith. Follow Kateri's life from when she contracted smallpox as a toddler – a disease that swept through her village – claiming her family and leaving her severely disfigured and half-blinded. Drawn to the Catholic faith by the Bible stories and teachings of the French Jesuits, Kateri amazed them by her perfection of the virtues, her mystical prayer life, and her total love for Christ. Her last words were: "Jesus, I love you." Kateri Tekakwitha's life of faith is an inspiration to everyone!

The period of the catechumenate is rich with opportunities for catechesis, and the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults presents four ways that catechesis occurs during that time for the unbaptized. A Guide to the Period of the Catechumenate breaks open each of those ways of catechizing by first exploring the approach of catechesis accommodated to the liturgical year, then by providing suggestions on how to introduce catechumens to the Christian way of life. In addition to this foundational material, this book also includes: An overview of six foundational principles of initiation ministry and how they are applied to the period of the catechumenate Practical advice for leading formational and catechetical sessions with the unbaptized Thirty-five seasonal outlines and twenty-four monthly outlines with liturgical suggestions for preparing Celebrations of the Word Thirty-four seasonal outlines and twenty-four monthly outlines with practical ways catechumens can serve their parish and local communities Twelve catechetical sessions on the lives of the saints

Color illustration on front cover of a Native American woman wrapped in a red blanket holding a cross standing between a man wearing a black hat and black coat and a Native American man wearing a wolfskin.

Even before Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization on October 21, 2012, many had been inspired by the story of the young Native American mystic who lived in the Mohawk Valley during the seventeenth century. With Emily Cavins's skill for weaving together historical facts and a compelling story, readers will discover Kateri’s path to sainthood against the backdrop of her life as a Native American in New York. These pages will reveal: What led to Kateri’s desire to become a Christian Her piety and self-denial in the face of persecution and illness Her impact on the Catholic Mohawk community The long road to sainthood, including two miracles attributed to Kateri More than just a compelling story of Kateri’s short life, readers will also learn how to avail themselves of Kateri’s intercession, why Kateri has become known as the patron saint of the environment, and of her connection to St. Francis of Assisi.

Three hundred and thirty-two years after her death, Kateri Tekakwitha has become recognized as a saint of the Catholic Church. Read about her extraordinary life through the eyes of someone who actually knew her: Fr. Pierre Cholonec, one of the two main biographers of St. Kateri. Father Cholonec's account of Kateri's life, as presented in this book, helped solidify her name and reputation within the Catholic world and began the process that would culminate with her canonization in October of 2012. This new edition of Fr. Cholonec's abridged biography, written in 1715, brings the courageous and endearing story of the Lily of the Mohawks out of hard-to-find academic texts to modern readers. Also included in this volume as an addendum to the biography of St. Kateri is Fr. Cholonec's heartwrenching and fascinating account of the Iroquois martyrs, the friends and neighbors of St. Kateri who preferred to die by torture than to give up their hard-won faith.

Lesser Feasts and Fasts had not been updated since 2006. This updated edition, adopted at the 79th General Convention (resolution A065), fills that need. Biographies and collects associated with those included within the volume have been updated; a deliberate effort has been made to more closely balance the men and women represented within its pages.

This fast-paced, meticulously researched novel dramatizes lesser-known episodes of American history to reveal the "real" Alexander Hamilton who, despite his famed intellect, was blind to his fatal flaw. For two centuries historians have theorized that Hamilton was either suicidal or hypersensitive about honor when he accepted Aaron Burr's challenge, but neither theory squares with Hamilton's character. Not only had he never fought a duel, but Burr was held in such low esteem by 1804, Hamilton could easily have ignored him. Why, then, did he go? The novel opens in 1801 after Hamilton has completed his herculean work as a soldier, Treasury secretary and Federalist leader. Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans are in power. Hamilton's 19-year-old son Philip is mortally wounded in a duel, and he dies in his parents' arms, causing his sister a permanent psychotic break. Hamilton retires from politics to focus on his family. Two years later, Jefferson buys the Louisiana Territory. Irate New England Federalists plot to secede from the union and secretly pledge to support Burr for governor if he will bring New York into their Northern Confederacy. Hamilton believes he alone can save the union, so he ignores his wife's warnings, helps defeat Burr and re-emerges as the Federalist leader and possible presidential candidate in '08. Thoroughly discredited, outraged and broke, Burr thinks a duel will restore his political stature, so he challenges Hamilton on the flimsiest of pretexts. With nothing to gain and everything to lose, Hamilton accepts. On the surface, his decision makes no sense, but author Jack Casey believes a deep emotional wound compelled Hamilton to attend the duel, and he wrote Hamilton's Choice to prove it. After graduating cum laude from Yale ('72, exceptional distinction in English literature), Casey followed his love of American history to write historical novels with strong political themes. He was so inspired researching Hamilton's life in 1982 that he embarked on a career in law and politics in Albany, NY. For three decades he watched politicians ruin their lives as unbridled ego brought down leaders like Spitzer, Silver, Skelos and Schneiderman. Hamilton's Choice, his best work by far, opens with the inciting incident of Philip's death, and proceeds through progressively more intense turning points to a shattering climax three years later. Fans of Ron Chernow's Hamilton biography, Linn-Manuel Miranda's musical or good historical fiction will truly enjoy this book.