by Michael Peterson

To celebrate the recent arrival of an icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the Murphy Institute hosted a presentation on April 18 featuring Fr. Christopher Collins, Vice President for Mission and Kelly Drummer, President of MIGZI, who spoke on the life of St. Kateri and shared reflections on the mission of the Church and the local Native community today.  A Mass was celebrated prior to the program during which Fr. Collins blessed the icon.

The newly received icon was commissioned through Markell Studios, Inc. in Stillwater, MN by the Murphy Institute to contribute to the collection of artwork housed at the School of Law.  Special guest Nicholas Markell of Markell Studios joined us to offer remarks on his work as an iconographer and the icon itself.

The presentation began with introductory remarks by Markell. He began with the story of a little boy who one day went to church with his mother. The boy peered at the stained-glass windows and asked his mother, “Who are those people?”.

“They are the saints of God,” she responded.

The next day, the little boy went to school where his teacher asked the class, “Who are the saints?”. The little boy thought for a moment.

“The saints are those through whom the sun’s light shines,” he finally responded.

“Unless we become as little children…” mused Mr. Markell.

Markell went on to remind the audience that we are all called to holiness, just like St. Kateri. He then used a modern analogy to help explain iconography drawing on the familiarity of the icons on our computers and tablets. The interesting thing about this sort of icon is that when we click on it, a larger world opens up for us. The same thing happens with the icon of a saint: the icon is visual language which uses stylized images, because those who live in Christ are transfigured. An icon represents complete harmony and unity.

The icon of St. Kateri contains 24 karat gold to remind the viewer of heavenly realms. St. Kateri’s faceted garments remind the viewer of a diamond, which becomes more precious by being cut. This symbolizes the saints, who become more, paradoxically, by becoming less. St. Kateri holds a lily, for she was known as “Lily of the Mohawks”.

Mr. Markell ended his remarks with a question: “St. Kateri…who might we become because of her?”

Fr. Christopher Collins followed Markell, beginning with the assertion that the saints reflect the light of the Son of God in unique ways. St. Kateri, he explained, was not always as serene as her image: she was born in New York in 1656 into a culture of upheaval and violence. As a young woman she was captured by Mohawks whose population was being ravaged by various diseases. “Where is God in all that?” Fr. Collins challenged the crowd.

Fr. Collins then referenced the myriad of reasons for discouragement in our times. At the same time, he encouraged that we “zero in on the grace of God touching one person in a mysterious way”. St. Kateri’s skin was scarred by smallpox during her lifetime but these were healed after her death, just as our scars can be transformed through the grace of God. “One life can be an encouragement,” concluded Fr. Collins; “great encouragement can come even from great woundedness”.

To conclude the program Kelly Drummer, a Lakota from Pine Ridge Reservation shared her experiences working with Native American community in the Twin Cities. Drummer described her involvement with several of the over 30 non-profits dedicated to the Native American population in Minnesota including as founder of the Tiwahe Foundation which notably raised over $6 million between 2008 and 2018 to be gifted as community grants. “We should live by the light,” exhorted Drummer, before explaining that Lakota culture is community-based and that one person believing in someone else can give life-changing power. She explained that just as St. Kateri was attached to a vision and a dream, so her work at Tiwahe was a vision and a dream.

Drummer shared the story of how one of her non-profits had touched the lives of two Native American high-school boys. As freshmen, these two boys were failing school. The non-profit provided individualized tutoring, and the boys earned all A’s and B’s their senior year. Drummer continued, speaking of her work directly in the classroom supporting Native students in developing and meeting their academic and well-being goals. She spoke of bringing 500 youth to do the cultural work of making maple syrup. She spoke of leadership development initiatives, including taking kids to the Boundary Waters for five days. “We’re lucky we came out alive!” she exclaimed.

There are also programs which train young people in producing film, podcasts, and radio shows. One non-profit trains children in green energy, energy auditing, transportation, pollution and land sovereignty. Kids even had the ability to build their own bikes. Working with Native Americans, for Drummer, is a calling and, just as the life of St. Kateri was to so many, a great encouragement to those around her.

The icon of St. Kateri Tekakwitha will be installed in the School of Law immediately outside of the Chapel of St. Thomas More this summer.

 

A recording of this program is available in the Murphy Institute video archive.

Michael Peterson is a Murphy Scholar and 2L at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.