A vital part of her Christian faith was devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
One common thread among the saints is devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It appears that whenever a saint draws close to Jesus, they invariably also deepen their love of the Blessed Mother.
Such was the case in the life of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who developed a special love of the Virgin Mary.
Queen of Virgins
When being taught about the various truths of the Catholic faith, St. Kateri was always attracted to Mary and to her virginity. This was something extraordinary, especially to the Mohawk culture, which did not have any tradition of celibacy.
Jesuit priest, Fr. Peter Cholenec, wrote in a letter about St. Kateri's devotion to the Virgin Mary:
It was this love of purity which produced in her heart so tender an affection for the Queen of Virgins. [Kateri] could never speak of Our Lady but with transport.
This naturally led her to express this love to the Virgin Mary through various devotions, such as the Rosary:
She had learned by heart her litanies, and recited them all, particularly in the evening, after the common prayers of the cabin. She always carried her rosary, which she recited many times in the course of the day.
Saturdays, which are traditionally devoted to the Virgin Mary, were special days when Kateri would be "devoted to extraordinary austerities, and applied herself to the practical imitation of some of [Mary's] virtues."
Missionaries had also brought with them a statue of Our Lady of Faith, a copy of a remarkable statue of the Virgin Mary found in an oak tree in France.
The statue was brought to a nearby chapel that St. Kateri was familiar with during her life.
St. Kateri found great solace in being a beloved daughter of the Blessed Mother, and was devoted to her until she died at a young age.
