Saint Katharine Drexel

Born in Philadelphia in 1858, Saint Katherine Drexel received an excellent education and traveled widely. As a wealthy girl, she also had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she realized that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her life took a profound turn.

She always had been interested in the plight of Native Americans. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?”