Posted on 11/06/2005 7:27:12 PM PST by Claud
SECTION 3RD. OF THE CHARITY OF THE CHRISTIAN IROQUOIS.
THIS Queen of virtues has been wonderfully displayed in the person of a poor slave, taken prisoner by the Iroquois from the Chat nation. We shall undoubtedly be touched by the graces that God was pleased to confer upon this captive, and by the singular virtues — and, above all, the charity toward God and her neighbor — that she displayed before the eyes of the savages and the French at La Prairie de la Magdelaine. Here is the narrative:
God having permitted that Gentaienton,[11] a village of the Chat Nation, should be taken and sacked by the Iroquois, Gandeaktena, which is the name of the one of whom we are speaking, was taken into slavery together with her mother and brought to Onniout. There the misfortune of her country proved the blessing of our captive; and her slavery was the cause of her preparing herself to receive through baptism the liberty of the children of God. The innocency in which she had lived, even before intending to become a Christian, seemed to have prepared her to receive this grace; and it is an astonishing fact that, in the midst of the extreme corruption of the Iroquois, she was able, before being illumined by the light of the gospel, to keep herself from participating in their debaucheries, although she was their slave.
Some years after her coming to Onneiout, Father Bruyas also came thither to preach the gospel. On the day after his arrivai, he made known in public the reason of his coming. Our slave was at once inwardly influenced by God, and so keenly affected with the desire of paradise and the fear of [Page 195] hell, that she immediately resolved to spare no pains in acquiring the one and avoiding the other. She showed no less constancy in the prosecution of her purpose than promptitude in forming it; and although she encountered great obstacles, there was none that she did not succeed in overcoming. Her extreme modesty, which would not permit her to visit the father all alone; the refusal of all whom she asked to bear her company; the determination, sulden and unexpected, of her husband to take her with him to the war; the work assigned to her by the woman whose slave she was, — that of going to the fishery, after her husband had sent her back from the expedition, — served only to bring to view the power of the spirit by which she was urged forward. This spirit, rendering her careful to seek the favorable opportunity of corresponding to the divine inspiration, prevailed upon fier to embrace at last what the providence of God rather than chance placed in her way. For, on her return from the fishery, she met one of her companions who was on her way to the prayers. She went with her; and on arriving at the cabin of the Father, she repeated the prayers. The Father noticed her, and judged from her modest countenance that there was something about this young woman that was quite out of the common; this determined him to address to her some words of encouragement in private. From that time she never failed to come to pray to God in the chapel. She learned in a very short time the prayers, and the mysteries of our faith; but, reflecting on the corrupt morals and licentiousness of the Iroquois, and wisely Concluding that she would experience much difficulty in securing her salvation [Page 197] if she lived among them, she resolved to leave them and come to live with the French. She commended the matter to God, and spoke of her plan to her mother; to her father-in-law, and to her husband, after his return from the war. She won them all over, as well as certain others of her neighbors, and came’ with them to Monseigneur the Bishop of Canada, who, after they had been instructed, baptized them all. These blessed successes with which God had accompanied the conversion of our Catherine — for that is the name she received at baptism — and that little band of persons whom she had attracted to the faith, and the train of events, made it apparent that he had from that time appointed her, and was Directing her, to become instrumental in the salvation of many Iroquois; for he, gave her the thought of going, to dwell at La Prairie de la Magdelaine, where, two months ago, a settlement had been started. She went there, in fact, together with those with whom she had been baptized, — 12 in number, — and gave the first impulse to the mission which is now so flourishing.
No advance was made in these small beginnings for 2 or 3 years; but, at length they attained much renown, especially among the Iroquois nations, so that more than 200 Iroquois have come since that time to establish themselves at La Prairie de la Magdelaine, in order to live there as good Christians. And it is a surprising Thing that God should have willed that they should Spare the life of Catherine in order that, afterward, she might obtain for them eternal salvation, and that thus their slave might become their instructress in the faith. She was that indeed, net only at the outset of her Conversion, but all the remainder of her life, through the rare examples of virtue which she furnished to them. [Page 199]
She had divided, after the example of St. Anne, her earthly goods into three equal parts, of which she devoted one to the church, another to The poor, and the 3rd to the support of her family. Never did Father Fremin propose to her a work of charity, when he was not obliged to prescribe to her the quantity and quality of what she was to give, as she was always disposed to give the best of what she had, and in a quantity which was Even excessive. Her cabin was the refuge of the poor and the discontented; and as soon as any one came into it, all feelings of discontent were dispersed. She was so chaste that no one dared utter an Unbecoming word in her presence, unless to see her blush. Her Zeal was shown in the conversion of her husband and his relatives; while the large number of Iroquois Christians who are at La Prairie de la Magdelaine could affirn that she was the instrument of their conversion also. As she had a great desire of attaining to a high sanctity, she had strongly persuaded herself that, in order to accomplish so noble A purpose, it was necessary to do what the missionaries did, so she tried to imitate them in everything, Instructing and catechizing not only those who are settled at La Prairie de la Magdelaine, but also those who pass that way. These in a single summer repair thither to the number of 7 or 800, and toward them she never failed to exercise Charity as regards their sustenance. The sweetness of her disposition was extreme, and her husband was the first to feel its effects. She had so, won him that, from a savage haughty and barbarous to the last degree, she had made a man of wonderful gentleness, and an excellent Christian. She never gave cause for complaint to any one. When her Zeal [Page 201] once made her say to an Iroquois woman, an Infidel, that she would be burned forever, since she would not listen to what was being said to her for her salvation, Catherine, when she perceived that this remark had irritated her, immediately went to her, and asked pardon for having given her cause for angry feeling.
She was foremost in the exercises of devotion which are practiced in the mission of La Prairie; and It was she, also, who Began the practice of them. She originated, as well, the assemblage cailed “The Holy Family,” which, being Composed of the persons most notable for their fervor, is now the stay of the mission. She had an extraordinary devotion to the blessed virgin, and the devotion that she bore to her amounted to Incredible tenderness. That loving mother of God did not fail to recompense this by the signal favors that she granted to her, for It was enough that Catherine should ask her for Anything, to obtain it, as she often experienced, — not only when she besought favors for herself, but even when she prayed for others.
She had a great detachment from Creatures, which she made apparent when they brought to her a false report of the death of her husband. She immediately said: “Now that I am free, I make the resolution to give half of all that I possess to the poor, and the other half to the church of the blessed virgin. It is sufficient for me to have enough to Clothe myself; for my food, the providence of God Will make provision.” And she would have done it, had she not been advised to the Contrary.
Her husband having returned safely to his home, she told him that one ought not to wait for death to detach oneself from creatures; that she still had [Page 203] a Girdle and bracelets of porcelain, which take the place of pearls and Diamonds among savages; that he himself had a large collar of the same material, with which he decked himself out when he went to war; that he ought to make an offering to God of all these ornaments, in order that he might no longer have any attachment save to God alone, She easily persuaded him to do what she desired. This was why they both presented themselves before the Blessed Sacrament, Catherine saying the following prayer and her husband repeating it: “My God,” she said, “four years ago, I gave to you my Body and soul, and the greater portion of my goods. Here is what remains to me: I present it to you with all my Heart. What should I now ask of you after having given you my all, unless it be that, from this moment, you take me myself, to place me near you?” It was a presentiment that she had of her death , — or, rather, a request that she made to die. Father fremin, reflecting on this action, said to another, in whose company he was, that without doubt God had heard this virtuous woman. Indeed, on the following day she fell sick, which filled her with Joy, in the hope of soon seeing her desires fulfilled. As she was much beloved, all came immediately in a crowd to see her; but as all knew her Inclinations, they, in place of conversing with her, passed the time of their visit in prayers, and particularly in reciting the Beads, which was kept up all Day, and often through a good part of the night. Her husband, who sat at her Bedside, fulfilled the duties of him who prepares a patient for death. Eight Days passed thus in continual exercises of piety, which served her as a preparation for receiving the last [Page 205] sacraments. God gave her at the same time so vehement a desire of Possessing him, that, when the Father had made her repeat a short prayer which asked for health, she said to him: “It has been impossible for me to say from the Heart what I have just uttered with the lips. Why ask to remain on earth, since God is calling me to Heaven ?”
As soon as she had received the Sacraments, she lost her mind and became delirious, remaining so 8 Days, — during which time she did nothing but pray, appearing to have no use of her Reason except: when one spoke to her of God.
When her recovery was entirely given up, het husband gave a feast to his friends, at which he made them this address: “Formerly,” he said to them, “before we were christians, we made use of superstitions in order to cure our sick people; and their maladies threw us into the utmost distress. Now that we pray, we Invoke the name of Jesus Christ for their cure; if they die, we Comfort ourselves in the hope of seeing them again in Heaven. Let us say, then, our Beads for her who is in agony, before beginning our feast.”
After 8 Days of delirium, or rather 8 Days of unceasing prayer, she fell into a kind of sweet sleep, in which she remained 9 Days without taking anything and without stirring; at the close of that period she expired very peacefully.
The Custom of savages is to give all the belongings of the dead to their relatives and friends, that they may bewail the deceased. But the husband of Catherine, in his capacity of chief Captain, assembled the Council of the old men, and told them that they ought not to adhere to their ancient Customs, which [Page 207] brought no advantage to their dead; that, for his own part, his thought was to array the Body of the dead one with the very best of what she possessed, since she would, some Day, rise again; and to distribute the remainder of what had belonged to her as alms among the poor. This thought was acted upon by Each one, and it has become a law, which they have since minutely observed.
He immediately arrayed, therefore, the Body of his wife in her best apparel; and distributed among the poor all that remained of her little furniture, bidding them pray for the departed one: the whole amounted to fully 300 livres, which is a good deal for a savage.
The burial was attended by all the savages of the mission, and by many Frenchmen, who all spoke highly of the virtues of Catherine, as of a person whom they assuredly believed to be in the bliss of Heaven. And father fremin, who Knew her very thoroughly, bears evidence that she died in baptismal innocence, and adds that she had reached so exalted a state of virtue, and particularly so wonderful a purity of Heart, that he thought nothing remained for which she would have to make atonement in the other life.
Sasanikonhren, Se8enniio, othenon iakori8anerahakton iak8atateken okon kenha.
Aieiatarak rotitiohk8atokentonke ratironhiakehronon, ne asteson Iesos aiesasennaien.
Ne k8ennita, Se8enniio, tak8atontats nisa.
—Mohawk Gradual and Tract from the Mass of the Dead for All Souls Day at Caughnawaga (1865)
Today the Jesuits would have said to the Martyress, "Stay a pagan; you can be saved by your invincible ignorance."
Yeah, the Society nowadays ought to take a few lessons from that glorious period when its members actually practiced authentic inculturation.
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