KATHARINE DREXEL

(Redirected from Saint Katharine Drexel)

'Katharine Marie Drexel' (November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955) is a Roman Catholic Saint.

Contents
Life
Sainthood
Legacy
See also
External links

Life


She was the daughter of Philadelphia banker Francis Anthony Drexel and Hannah Jane Langstroth, his first wife. On 12 February 1891, Katharine founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People. From the age of 33 until her death in 1955, she dedicated her life and personal fortune of US$ 20 million to this work. In 1894, Mother Drexel took part in opening the Sisters' first mission school for Native Americans, St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other schools quickly followed—for Native Americans west of the Mississippi River, and for the African Americans in the southern part of the United States. In 1915 she also founded Xavier University and Xavier Prep in New Orleans.
St. Katharine also funded many chapels, convents, and monasteries. Blessed Sacrament Monastery in Tucson, Arizona is an outstanding example of the tasteful architecture that she advocated for religious institutions. At her death in 1955 there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country.
In 1935, Katharine suffered a severe heart attack, and for the next twenty years she lived in retirement. She died on March 3, 1955, at the age of 96 at St. Elizabeth Convent in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania.

Sainthood


Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988. She was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 1, 2000 to become only the second American-born saint. Her feast day is March 3, the anniversary of her death. She is buried in Bensalem Township.

Legacy



Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania is named in her honor.

See also



Anthony Joseph Drexel I, her uncle

External links



Findagrave: Katharine Drexel

Bibliography of sources about Katharine Drexel and the Drexel family

Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament

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