Kateri Tekakwitha to become saint

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AURIESVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Catholics in New York are preparing to celebrate the canonization of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, something Catholics have prayed for since her death in 1680.

A special mass is scheduled for Sunday at the Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville to celebrate the sainthood of Tekakwitha, the Daily Gazette of Schenectady, N.Y., reported.

"People have been praying for this since the moment of her death," said Beth Lynch, director of the church's museum.

Tekakwitha was born in 1656 to a captive Catholic-Algonquin mother and Mohawk chief. She contracted smallpox at age 4, which scarred her face and nearly took her sight.

She died at age 24 of exposure from carrying out her extensive prayer and penance outdoors in Canada.

Upon her death, witnesses say, Tekakwitha's scars disappeared from her face.

In 1980, she became the first Mohawk Indian to be beatified by the Roman Catholic church.

Also joining the canon of saints Sunday will be Blessed Marianne Cope of Syracuse, who worked for years among lepers in Hawaii.

"I think it's great that two women of the Mohawk Valley are entering the canon together," Lynch said.