Kateri Tekakwitha and Marianne Cope

Our two newest American saints are women who were inspired by God's love to love others. St. Marianne Cope was a teacher and leader in serving the sick at hospitals in New York. She is best known for her ministry to those disfigured and disabled by Hansen's disease (formerly known as leprosy) in Hawaii. St. Kateri Tekakwitha lived a short life of quiet holiness in upstate New York and Canada. Disfigured by smallpox, she was ostracized by her Mohawk clan following her Baptism. Escaping to a Christian enclave near Montreal, she lived her faith by teaching the young, serving the sick and elderly, and dedicating herself to prayer.