St. Katharine Drexel

The patient and humble endurance of the cross – whatever nature it may be – is the highest work we have to do. 

-St. Katharine Drexel

St. Katharine Drexel, whose feast we celebrated at the beginning of March, gave her whole life to this “highest work.”  She is an American saint, and she was one of the 482 canonized by Blessed John Paul II.

Born in 1858 to a wealthy family, St. Katharine learned at an early age that wealth is meant to be shared with others.  Her parents were known to be generous philanthropists, and they were both devout witnesses to the Catholic faith.

St. Katharine found her lifelong mission on a trip to the Western part of the United States. She was so unsettled by the destitution of Native Americans, that after the trip she dedicated much of her time and inheritance to supporting Native American missions. She thought access to education would help the impoverished Indian communities, so in 1887 she established St. Catherine Indian School in New Mexico.

On a later visit to Rome, St. Katharine met with Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to the Indian missions she had been supporting. She didn’t expect the response he gave her: Pope Leo suggested she become a missionary herself.

And here is the passive way – to be filled unto the fullness of God. The passive way – I abandon myself to it, not in a multiplicity of trials, extraordinary penances accomplished, practices of great works – but in peaceful abandonment to the tenderness of Jesus, which I must try to imitate, and by being in constant union with his meek and humble heart.

-St. Katharine Drexel

After consulting her spiritual director, Bishop James O’Connor, St. Katharine abandoned herself to Divine Providence and gave everything she had to Christ. Soon after, she founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, an order dedicated to sharing the Gospel and the Eucharist with oppressed Native Americans and African Americans.

As a missionary, St. Katharine did some spectacular things. She opened, staffed, and supported nearly 60 schools and missions, one of which is Xavier University of Louisiana, the only Catholic African American university in the United States. Her prayerful activism and witness increased awareness in the American Church of the need for an apostolate among oppressed minorities.

St. Katharine was immobile during the last years of her life, and during this time she completely gave herself to Adoration and contemplation. She died on March 3, 1955 and was canonized in St. Peter’s Square 45 years later.

It is for each of us to learn the path by which He requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that path.

-St. Katharine Drexel

St. Katharine, pray that we may discern the path God has set out for us and that we may follow Him on that path, just as you did.