Amador County – Sacramento Diocese Bishop Jaime Soto on Wednesday proclaimed the new Patron Saint of Amador County’s newly named parish and church, Saint Katharine Drexel, known as a patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists.
After a prayer service, a video presentation told about how Drexel became a saint. Saint Katharine Drexel was born in Philadelphia in 1858 into a prominent family, and inherited a personal fortune from her parents, along with her siblings. The show told how Katherine as a girl accompanied their father, a banker, on a rugged cross-country trip to Tacoma, Washington.
On the trip, she saw a school had been built for Indians, including a church. She wanted to also help, so she took $100 from her clothing allowance and bought a religious statue for the school. When she told her father, she expected to be scolded, but instead he was proud.
She began donating money for the betterment of blacks and Indians, but finally realized she was paying people to do what she should be doing. At her religious advisor’s guidance, she joined the church as a nun, and, according to Catholic.org, “from age 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and a fortune of $20 million to this work. In 1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”
More “schools quickly followed – for Native Americans west of the Mississippi river, and for the blacks in the southern part of the United States.” She also founded Xavier University in New Orleans, in 1915, and her uncle, Anthony Joseph Drexel, founded Drexel University. At her death, more than 500 of her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament were teaching in 63 schools throughout the country.
Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988, and she became a Saint in 2000, after two miracles were credited to prayers to her, seeking intercession. One was a man who had his hearing restored in one ear. Another was a girl who was born deaf and after prayers to Katharine Drexel, she began to hear.
Her Holy card said God “called on Saint Katharine Drexel to teach the message of the Gospel and to bring the life of the Eucharist to the Native American and African American peoples; her prayers and example, enable us to work for justice among the poor and the oppressed, and keep us undivided in love in the Eucharistic community of your church.”
Saint Katharine Drexel is known as the patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists. Her feast day is observed on March 3, the anniversary of her death.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
