Késsinnimek - Roots - RacinesMon Petit Coin by Norm Léveillée
Carving Offers Spiritual Distraction From Cancer
by Monique Vicknair
Catholic News Service 1
GRAND CAILLOU, La. - While receiving radiation treatments for cancer, Peter Verdin carved a wooden image of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the first American Indian to be considered for Sainthood.
For the Native American artist, carving was a relaxing distraction from the cancer treatment. Verdin attributes all of his work to God, Blessed Kateri and Mary. "They did a super job," he told the Bayou Catholic, newspaper of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
"I'd get up in the morning and I'd pray for help with this. While carving, I would get ideas," said the former welder, who now works in an aluminum shop.
The carving of Blessed Kateri, known as the "Lily of the Mohawks," could not have been done without the help of daily prayer for her intercession, added the artist, a parishioner at Holy Family Church in Grand Caillou.
Using tupelo gum, a softwood tree that is found in local swamps, he first sanded the wood and then traced onto it the figure of Blessed Kateri from an enlarged picture.
For her hair and rosary beads, he used a wood-burning technique. The intricate carving - which took about 70 hours over the course of a year - has a 3-D effect when viewed closely.
He got the idea to carve the figure after members of the Kateri Circle said that they wanted a statue of Blessed Kateri in Holy Family Church. Although he had done many carvings of animals, this was his firt image of a human with a religious theme.
Originally, he wanted the depiction to include a cross and a tree, but he said the block of wood was not large enough.
When asked if he would ever consider doing a replica of his carving, Verdin said he is not sure. Any reproduction probably would not be for sale as he prefers either to keep his carvings or to give them away.
The carving will find a place in his parish church, said the artist. The piece was unveiled during the parish's annual Tekakwitha celebration.
Kateri Tekakwitha was born in what is now Auriesville, in upstate New York, along the Mohawk River. She was baptized a Catholic by a Jesuit missionary when she was 20 years old in 1676.
She was devoted to prayer and cared for the sick in a village near Montréal, where she fled to escape persecution. She died at the age of 24 in 1680. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 22, 1980.
An annual conference is help to honor Blessed Kateri. The National Tekakwitha Conference was started in 1939 as a way to unify Catholic American Indians from different tribes across the United States.
The 65th annual Tekakwitha conference is scheduled in El Paso, Texax, July 28-31, 2004.
During the conference, five archbishops and bishops will join approximately 1,000 Catholics who are members of Indian tribes from throughout the United States and Canada.
Participating in the events will be Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver and Bishops Donald E. Pelotte of Gallup, N.M., and Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M. Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Pelote are the only Native American bishops in the United States.
El Paso Bishop Armando X. Ochoa will welcome participants and celebrate Mass on the sceond day of the gathering. There will be a number of workshop sessions, and a Blessed Kateri procession will go through the streets ofthe Ysleta Pueblo.
On the closing day, a water ceremony is planned - water from each American Indian nation will be blessed ands sprinkled on participants. The ceremony will be followed by a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan of Santa Fe, N.M., then a powwow and closing prayer.
In April, Arizonans Marlene and Allan McCauley were honored with the Kateri Prize for their work on behalf of the canonization of Blessed Kateri. The couple received the honor on Blessed Kateri's feast day, April 18, at St. Francis Xavier Mission and its Shrine of Kateri Tekakwitha in Kahnawaké, Québec. Bishop Jacques Berthelet, of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, Québec, celebrated the Mass.
A painting of Blessed Kateri titled "Lily of the Mohawks" by artist Marlene McCauley, was installed in the sanctuary of St. Francis Xavier Mission in 1992.
McCauley painted it in 1974, shortly after her 4-year-old son, Peter, was cured of a yearlong partial deafness in both ears that had been caused by an infection. McCauley and her husband credited his recovery to the intercession of Blessed Kateri.
It was at the recommendation of a priest friend that McCauley had asked Blessed Kateri to interecede in her son's case. The boy's hearing was suddenly restored on April 18, 1973, the 317th anniversary of Kateri Tekakwitha's baptism. Ear surgery planned for Peter was canceled after doctors decided it was o longer necessary.
A request via email has been sent to the Catholic News Service for permission to use the article and the photo.
CNS Photo by Lawrence Chantagnier, Bayou Catholic 
Copyright © 2003 & 2004 Norm Léveillée
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Created 1 Feb 2003