Kate and Katie part 2

Katharine Drexel has become the focus of a lot of my research of late. I know more about this woman than I will probably ever know about my grandmother or her time at St. Catherine's Indian School.

Sometimes I am okay with this fact, and, sometimes, it drives me crazy.

The truth is Drexel was way ahead of her time at the same time she was a product of her time. I try always to see her within the context of her own historical time period.

There is no denying that she impacted the lives of generations of students (and continues to do so at places like Xavier University). I may not be the most religious person, or not even religious at all, but there are many qualities about Katharine that are most admirable, not the least of which is her determination to do that which she thought would change the world. If only we all had that much conviction.

Saint Katharine's feast day is March 3rd. So, I guess this is a little early feast day tribute for her. Later this week, I will be giving a paper that I wrote about Katharine's biographers and how their stories contributed to her canonization. I wish and hope that someday I will be able to give a talk about my grandmother and what it was like to be her...

This is one of my favorite pieces that is readily available about Saint Katharine Drexel. If you want to know more about her, I recommend it, or you can read more about her at the Drexel shrine page (link at the end of this post).

Katharine (left) and Elizabeth (right) were born to Francis Anthony Drexel and his first wife, Hannah Langstroth Drexel. Katharine was born on November 26, 1858. Hannah died of complications five weeks later. Louise was the daughter of Francis and his second wife Emma Bouvier Drexel.

This miniature was painted when Katharine was about 18 years old. She made her debut in January, 1879 at the age of 20.

Kate traveled to the Pittsburg Mercy convent on May 6, 1889, to begin training in religious life as a necessary preparation for establishing a new congregation to work with the Black and Indian peoples.

On Feb. 12, 1891, in pronouncing her vows, St. Katharine became the first Sister of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburg. Ten novices and three postulants joined her.

These photos were all borrowed from the www.katharinedrexel.org website. The captions are also taken from the website.