St. Katharine Drexel: Feast Day, Patron Saint and Prayer

St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955) was a Philadelphia heiress who gave away a fortune of millions, and her whole life, to serve Native American and Black Americans at a time when few others would. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, opened dozens of schools and missions, and founded Xavier University of Louisiana. Canonized in 2000, she was the second American-born saint. Her feast day is March 3. Below are her story, what she is the patron saint of, and prayers to St. Katharine Drexel.

Prayer to St. Katharine Drexel

Written for this page:

St. Katharine Drexel, you heard Christ say, “Go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,”
and you gave Him your fortune, your gifts and your whole life.
You loved Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and served Him in the people others ignored.
Pray for us, that we may share what we have been given,
work for justice and respect for every person,
and see Christ in every brother and sister of every race.
St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us. Amen.

A prayer for racial justice and healing

Lord Jesus, you made all peoples one family in your blood.
Through the prayers of St. Katharine Drexel,
heal the wounds of racism in our country and in our hearts,
give us courage to stand with those who are treated unjustly,
and make our schools, parishes and homes places of welcome for all. Amen.

A prayer for generosity

Father, everything I have is your gift.
Like St. Katharine, help me to hold it with an open hand,
to give generously to those in need, and to want you more than any treasure. Amen.

Who was St. Katharine Drexel?

Birth. Katharine Mary Drexel was born in Philadelphia on November 26, 1858, the second daughter of the banker Francis Anthony Drexel. Her mother died a few weeks after her birth, and her stepmother, Emma Bouvier Drexel, raised her with a deep faith and a love for the poor: three afternoons a week, the family opened its home to give food, clothing and rent money to people in need.
The fortune. When her father died in 1885, he left an estate of about fifteen million dollars, and Katharine and her two sisters shared the income from it, making them among the richest women in America.
“Why not, my child, yourself?” On a trip to Europe in 1887, Katharine asked Pope Leo XIII to send missionaries to the Native American missions she was supporting. The Pope replied by asking her to become a missionary herself.
A new congregation. After her novitiate with the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh, she made her vows in 1891 and founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, devoted to the Eucharist and to serving Native American and Black communities.
Schools and missions. Over the next sixty years she spent some twenty million dollars of her income on schools, missions and churches across the South and West, including St. Michael Indian School in Arizona and, in 1925, Xavier University of Louisiana, still the only historically Black Catholic university in the United States. Her work met fierce opposition, including threats from the Ku Klux Klan.
Last years. A heart attack in 1935 ended her travels. She spent her last twenty years in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at the motherhouse in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, and died there on March 3, 1955, aged 96.

Canonization

Pope St. John Paul II beatified Katharine Drexel in 1988 and canonized her on October 1, 2000. Both miracles approved for her cause were healings of deafness in children from the Philadelphia area. She was the second saint born in the United States, after St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Since 2018 her tomb has been in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

What is St. Katharine Drexel the patron saint of?

St. Katharine Drexel is the patron saint of racial justice and of philanthropists. She is also invoked for Native American and Black Catholic communities, Catholic schools and educators, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and the many parishes and schools named after her.

Feast day

The feast of St. Katharine Drexel is March 3, the day of her death, an optional memorial on the calendar of the United States. Because it falls in or near Lent, it is often kept as a commemoration; in 2027 March 3 is a Wednesday in Lent.

Scripture

The words of Christ that Katharine lived literally (Matthew 19:21):

Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.

And St. Paul’s teaching on the unity of all the baptized, which she defended against prejudice (Galatians 3:26–28):

For you are all the children of God by faith, in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Frequently asked questions

Why is St. Katharine Drexel a saint?

She gave her fortune and her life to serve Native American and Black Americans, founded a religious order and many schools, and lived with heroic faith, charity and devotion to the Eucharist. Two miracles were attributed to her prayers.

What did St. Katharine Drexel do?

She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and some sixty schools and missions, including Xavier University of Louisiana.

St. Katharine Drexel: Feast Day (March 3), Patron Saint, Life and Prayer