St. Katharine Drexel

St. Katharine Drexel, S.B.S.
Philanthropist, Religious Sister, Educator, and Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament (1858-1955)
FEAST DAY: March 3

Saint Katharine Drexel was born in Pennsylvania in 1858. Though raised as a young heiress in Philadelphia and educated at home, she left behind her life as an heiress in 1891 when she became a nun. Having travelled throughout the United States, she became aware of the difficult circumstances faced by Native Americans and African Americans across the country. Drexel – who lost her stepmother in 1883 and her father in 1885 – wanted to use her inherited wealth to help these groups. During her life she had given approximately 20 million dollars to help people in need. Following her death in 1955 at age 96, Pope John Paul II formally declared Drexel “Venerable” on January 26, 1987, and beatified her on November 20, 1988, after concluding that Robert Gutherman was miraculously cured of deafness in 1974 after his family prayed for Drexel’s intercession. She was canonized as a Catholic saint in October 1, 2000, one of only a few American saints and the second American-born saint. Canonization occurred after the Vatican determined that two-year-old Amy Wall had been miraculously healed of nerve deafness in both ears in through Katharine Drexel’s intercession in 1994. (Josielyn G. Sunga)