Saints in our Mural at St. Michael the Archangel
1. Kateri Tekakwitha Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight, she was adopted by her aunt and uncle. She converted to Catholicism as a teenager and endured great hostility from her tribe, suffering greatly for the sake of Christ, yet she remained firm in her faith. She will be the first Native American to be named a saint on Oct 21, 2012.
2. Elizabeth Ann Seton Born into a wealthy and influential family; she was raised in the New York high society of the late 18th century, she married and started a family. After her husband died she converted to Catholicism. She established a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland which initiated the parochial school system in America. She later founded the Sisters of Charity, the first American religious community for women.
3. Damien DeVeuster Missionary priest, member of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, he was sent to Hawaii where he became resident priest in the leper reserve at Molokai, and for years was the only person to minister to their spiritual and medical wants. Stricken with the disease in 1885, he continued his work until his death.
4. Rose Philippine Duschesne She was born to a wealthy family and against her family’s wishes joined the Sacred Heart Order. In 1818 she was sent as a missionary to the Louisiana Territory. She established her first mission at Saint Charles, Missouri, a log cabin that was the first free school west of the Mississippi River. She eventually opened six other houses in America which included schools and orphanages. She eventually came to Kansas to work with the Pottawatomie Indians.
5. Blessed Junipero Serra Entered the Franciscan University and joined the Order at age 17. In 1749, Serra was sent to the missionary territories in the west of North America. A tireless worker, Serra was largely responsible for the foundation and spread of the Church on the West Coast of the United States. He founded twenty-one missions, converted thousands of Native Americans, and trained many of them in European methods of agriculture, cattle husbandry, and crafts.
6. Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Francis Xavier Seelos wanted to be a priest from an early age, and often claimed he would be another Francis Xavier. His sermons drew crowds from neighboring towns, there were lines outside his confessional, and he never tired of working with children. He heard Confessions in English, German, and French, from black and whites and anyone else with a burden.
7. Marianne Cope Came to the United States when her parents emigrated in 1840, and she grew up in the Utica, New York area. As Superior of a convent and Supervisor of Saint Joseph's Hospital in 1870 it was the only hospital in Syracuse, and cared for the sick regardless of race or religion, a rarity in the day. Later traveling to serve a hospital in Hawaii, the sisters completely revamped the conditions of the patients, vastly improving their housing and care. She will be named a saint on Oct 21, 2012.
8. Blessed Miguel Pro (Relics in our altar) After living in Belgium for his training as a priest, he returned to Mexico in 1926, a time when churches were closed, priests were in hiding, and persecution of the Church was policy. Father Miguel used disguises to conduct an underground ministry, bringing the comfort of charity and the sacraments to the faithful. Falsely accused of as assassination attempt, Pro became a wanted man, was betrayed to the police, and without trial, he was martyred in 1927.
9. John Neumann He was the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. He was the first to organize a Diocesan Catholic School system. As a founder of Catholic education in the United States, he increased the number of schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. His influence in the Anglican as well as the Catholic communion was profound, inducing many hundreds to follow him.
10.11.12. North American Martyrs John de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant and Charles Garnier (Relics in our altar) They were Jesuit missionaries from France who came to North America to teach the faith and were martyred together by the Iroquois Indians in 1649.
13. Katharine Drexel She was the daughter of a wealthy family but while visiting the Dakotas, met the Sioux chief, and began her systematic aid to Indian missions, eventually spending millions of the family fortune. She founded a system of schools for black Catholics in 13 states, 40 mission centers, 23 rural schools, 50 Indian missions, and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first United States university for blacks.
14. Isaac Jogues French Jesuit priest. He was sent to Quebec in 1646 on a peace keeping mission. He was captured by the Mohawks and was martyred. He is remembered along with the other North American Martyrs whose relics are in our Altar.
15. Mother Theodore Guerin Served as a missionary to the diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. They established the Academy of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1841 at Terre Haute, Indiana, the first Catholic women's liberal-arts college in the United States. She founded an orphanage for girls and one for boys in Vincennes, Indiana. She opened pharmacies where medicines were dispensed free to the poor at Vincennes and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.
16. Frances Cabrini She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Pope Leo XIII then sent her to the United States to carry on this mission. Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States, Europe and South America. She was the first US citizen to be canonized.
2. Elizabeth Ann Seton Born into a wealthy and influential family; she was raised in the New York high society of the late 18th century, she married and started a family. After her husband died she converted to Catholicism. She established a Catholic girl's school in Baltimore, Maryland which initiated the parochial school system in America. She later founded the Sisters of Charity, the first American religious community for women.
3. Damien DeVeuster Missionary priest, member of the Fathers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, he was sent to Hawaii where he became resident priest in the leper reserve at Molokai, and for years was the only person to minister to their spiritual and medical wants. Stricken with the disease in 1885, he continued his work until his death.
4. Rose Philippine Duschesne She was born to a wealthy family and against her family’s wishes joined the Sacred Heart Order. In 1818 she was sent as a missionary to the Louisiana Territory. She established her first mission at Saint Charles, Missouri, a log cabin that was the first free school west of the Mississippi River. She eventually opened six other houses in America which included schools and orphanages. She eventually came to Kansas to work with the Pottawatomie Indians.
5. Blessed Junipero Serra Entered the Franciscan University and joined the Order at age 17. In 1749, Serra was sent to the missionary territories in the west of North America. A tireless worker, Serra was largely responsible for the foundation and spread of the Church on the West Coast of the United States. He founded twenty-one missions, converted thousands of Native Americans, and trained many of them in European methods of agriculture, cattle husbandry, and crafts.
6. Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos Francis Xavier Seelos wanted to be a priest from an early age, and often claimed he would be another Francis Xavier. His sermons drew crowds from neighboring towns, there were lines outside his confessional, and he never tired of working with children. He heard Confessions in English, German, and French, from black and whites and anyone else with a burden.
7. Marianne Cope Came to the United States when her parents emigrated in 1840, and she grew up in the Utica, New York area. As Superior of a convent and Supervisor of Saint Joseph's Hospital in 1870 it was the only hospital in Syracuse, and cared for the sick regardless of race or religion, a rarity in the day. Later traveling to serve a hospital in Hawaii, the sisters completely revamped the conditions of the patients, vastly improving their housing and care. She will be named a saint on Oct 21, 2012.
8. Blessed Miguel Pro (Relics in our altar) After living in Belgium for his training as a priest, he returned to Mexico in 1926, a time when churches were closed, priests were in hiding, and persecution of the Church was policy. Father Miguel used disguises to conduct an underground ministry, bringing the comfort of charity and the sacraments to the faithful. Falsely accused of as assassination attempt, Pro became a wanted man, was betrayed to the police, and without trial, he was martyred in 1927.
9. John Neumann He was the fourth Bishop of Philadelphia. He was the first to organize a Diocesan Catholic School system. As a founder of Catholic education in the United States, he increased the number of schools in his diocese from two to one hundred. His influence in the Anglican as well as the Catholic communion was profound, inducing many hundreds to follow him.
10.11.12. North American Martyrs John de Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant and Charles Garnier (Relics in our altar) They were Jesuit missionaries from France who came to North America to teach the faith and were martyred together by the Iroquois Indians in 1649.
13. Katharine Drexel She was the daughter of a wealthy family but while visiting the Dakotas, met the Sioux chief, and began her systematic aid to Indian missions, eventually spending millions of the family fortune. She founded a system of schools for black Catholics in 13 states, 40 mission centers, 23 rural schools, 50 Indian missions, and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first United States university for blacks.
14. Isaac Jogues French Jesuit priest. He was sent to Quebec in 1646 on a peace keeping mission. He was captured by the Mohawks and was martyred. He is remembered along with the other North American Martyrs whose relics are in our Altar.
15. Mother Theodore Guerin Served as a missionary to the diocese of Vincennes, Indiana. They established the Academy of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1841 at Terre Haute, Indiana, the first Catholic women's liberal-arts college in the United States. She founded an orphanage for girls and one for boys in Vincennes, Indiana. She opened pharmacies where medicines were dispensed free to the poor at Vincennes and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana.
16. Frances Cabrini She founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. Pope Leo XIII then sent her to the United States to carry on this mission. Mother Cabrini founded 67 institutions, including schools, hospitals, and orphanages in the United States, Europe and South America. She was the first US citizen to be canonized.