St. Katharine Drexel
This is in her alter in the chapel area of the church.
Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) walked among the African-American and Native American peoples of her time and heard the cry of injustice, their hope for unity, and their dream for peace. As a wealthy, educated, Philadelphia socialite of the late 19th century, Katharine Drexel had many choices for her life work. That choice in the end was influenced by the strong Catholic faith and deep compassion for the poor that Katharine learned from her parents.
While still a young woman, Katharine became aware of the desperate plight of Native Americans and African-Americans for whom she built 14 boarding schools in 9 different states. She chose to give her whole life's energy to bring the liberating news of Christ to people of color. On February 12, 1891 she became a vowed religious and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
Convinced that we are all people of God, Mother Katharine Drexel and her Sisters established schools, catechetical and social centers- on reservations, in the rural South and in large urban areas so that people of these races, who, proud of their own culture and heritage, would themselves become leaders in the nation and the Church. Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988. She was canonized a Saint of the Catholic Church on October 1, 2000. She is entombed at the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Her feast day is March 3.
St. Katharine Drexel
This is in her alter in the chapel area of the church.
Katharine Drexel (1858-1955) walked among the African-American and Native American peoples of her time and heard the cry of injustice, their hope for unity, and their dream for peace. As a wealthy, educated, Philadelphia socialite of the late 19th century, Katharine Drexel had many choices for her life work. That choice in the end was influenced by the strong Catholic faith and deep compassion for the poor that Katharine learned from her parents.
While still a young woman, Katharine became aware of the desperate plight of Native Americans and African-Americans for whom she built 14 boarding schools in 9 different states. She chose to give her whole life's energy to bring the liberating news of Christ to people of color. On February 12, 1891 she became a vowed religious and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
Convinced that we are all people of God, Mother Katharine Drexel and her Sisters established schools, catechetical and social centers- on reservations, in the rural South and in large urban areas so that people of these races, who, proud of their own culture and heritage, would themselves become leaders in the nation and the Church. Katharine Drexel was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988. She was canonized a Saint of the Catholic Church on October 1, 2000. She is entombed at the Saint Katharine Drexel Shrine in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Her feast day is March 3.