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The saint for March 03
St. Katherine Drexel
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| Roman Calendar, USA |
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Born 1858 in Philadelphia, PA
Died 1955 in Bensalem, PA
Canonized October 1st, 2000
Katherine was the child of wealthy parents who taught her to use her talents and wealth for the benefit of others. As a young woman, she was confronted with the idea of giving her entire self in the service of others when discussing with Pope Leo XIII the idea that he should send more missionaries to help the Native Americans. Pope Leo asked her, "Why don't you become a missionary?"
Katherine began to spend great amounts of time and family money on Native American Missions, and eventually entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy. In 1881, she founded her own order, The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
She founded schools for black and native american children throughout the US, as well as the first US University for blacks.
She believed that the patient endurance of our cross was our highest calling in life, and exemplified this by bearing with patience the infirmities which marked the last twenty years of her life.
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| Patroness of: Missionaries, children, native americans, blacks |
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