Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, 1656-1680; daughter of a Christian Algonquin and a Mohawk chief; lost her parents to a smallpox epidemic which left her disfigured and half-blind; moved by the words of the "Blackrobes"--Jesuit missionaries--who stayed with her uncle, she converted at the age of 19; she grew in grace rapidly, but was always in danger; fled 200 miles north to a Christian Indian village; took a vow of virginity at age 23; died the afternoon before Holy Thursday, 1680