A P.E.I. shrine to Indigenous saint brings Mi’kmaq and Catholic faiths together with its blessing
JOHNSTONS RIVER, P.E.I. — John Joe Sark was consuming lunch a few years in the past when he received a name from a detailed buddy.
“Do you have got the relic?” requested the buddy.
“Sure,” replied Sark.
The buddy advised him his granddaughter had been born with the wire round her neck and arm. Docs advised the household they’d should take away the arm the next Monday.
“I’ll pray for her should you pray with me,” Sark advised his buddy.
He recounted the occasions to SaltWire Community from his dwelling in Johnstons River on Oct. 8 the place individuals had been gathering to have a good time a brand new shrine to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. The relic Sark’s buddy had requested about all these years in the past was a bit of the saint’s bone Sark had in his possession.
“I took the relic and prayed for her,” he stated. “Monday night, he referred to as me up and he stated, ‘John,’ I stated, ‘What?’ He stated, ‘The medical doctors, the surgeon, examined her once more. I don’t know what occurred, however there’s nothing incorrect along with her arm.’”
Mi’kmaq elder John Joe Sark has accomplished a shrine to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha – the primary Indigenous saint and patron of the setting and ecology. pic.twitter.com/AJ76rVKLtN
— Alison from The Guardian (@ReporterAlison) October 11, 2022
Heartfelt prayers
Saint Kateri, the primary Indigenous saint, featured in not simply that one sudden therapeutic expertise, however others Sark recounted.
“When my daughter was born, I assume they needed to take her to Halifax, as a result of she was actually sick — we thought she was,” stated Sark. “Eileen referred to as her mom and her mom prayed to Kateri Tekakwitha and once they received to Halifax, she was all proper.”
Two years in the past, after Sark had a coronary heart assault, he was in a quiet room on the hospital, resting and praying.
“One thing got here proper over me, and I felt one thing go proper by way of me,” he stated.
Simply after the weird feeling washed over him, somebody requested if he’d prefer to go to mass.
“I cried all the way in which downstairs, throughout mass,” he stated. “I had been speaking to her, praying to her.”
Quick details
Listed here are some quick details about Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, patron saint of the setting and ecology:
• Kateri was born in 1656, she died on April 17, 1680.
• Kateri was beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II after which canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
• Kateri is a model of Catherine, a reputation given to her by the Catholic monks who baptized her. Her Mohawk title is Tekakwitha.
• Tekakwitha was born in Mohawk village in what’s now New York state.
• Her mom was a Catholic Algonquin and her father was an Iroquois chief.
• She was orphaned by smallpox when she was 4, and survived the sickness with scars and diminished eyesight.
• She joined the Catholic church when she was 18 in 1676 however was excluded from her group for her religion.
• She fled non secular persecution in New York to Saint-François-Xavier Mission close to Montreal in what’s now Kahnawake.
Sources: https://www.catholic.org/ and https://www.cccb.ca/
Reconciliation
The ceremony to bless and dedicate the shrine in honour of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was led by Fr. Gerard Chaisson in entrance of about two dozen individuals.
A well-recognized opening hymn was adopted by Mi’kmaq singers elevating their voices within the honour music, accompanied by drumming.
Incense and a prayer had been prolonged alongside the 4 compass factors.
The shrine started with some paving stones and a cross in his yard, however Sark and a few buddies, Bruno Peripoli and Keith Kennedy, figured they may do some higher than the straightforward show and set to work. With the assistance of latest buddy Nic Bergeron, they assembled an eight-sided gazebo, surrounded by gardens.
“It’s a technique, that John Joe has spoken of on many events, to assist in the reconciliation course of. To assist in therapeutic,” stated Chaisson. “We’re all right here to have a good time our religion and to attach, as soon as once more, with our religion and with one another.”
Particular gathering
Members of the Catholic religion, a number of sisters from Saint Martha’s, Sark’s family and friends and Indigenous dancers and singers had been gathered for the blessing.
Amongst these was Grace Montreuil, who was visiting from Tignish along with her mom Michelle and brother Will. Michelle is Algonquin and Grace was the survivor of a food-borne sickness that left her unable to stroll together with poor sight and listening to.
“We had been actually feeling we wanted that (religion ceremony) – and (Sark’s) firm,” stated Michelle.
As Chiasson blessed Grace with the smudging incense, wafting the smoke over Grace with an eagle feather.
“We bear in mind in fact the previous, however that is our little manner — and maybe a giant manner — of displaying reconciliation, of displaying peace and friendship.”
