St. Kateri Tekakwitha featured in latest ‘Sister Justine’s Saint Tales’ audio episode, out now

St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, lived not far from what would later become Western New York. Her life is featured in the latest episode of the Diocese of Buffalo’s audio podcast series “Sister Justine’s Saint Tales.” 

Students from St. Stephen School on Grand Island voiced the roles of the students, who are portrayed riding a bus on a field trip to the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville. Sister Justine, voiced as always by Melissa Cumming, helps the kids pass time on the bus ride by sharing St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s story. Ava Schnepf served as the voice of St. Kateri. 

While researching the episode, the producer learned how St. Kateri’s name would be pronounced by her fellow Mohawks. This is explained within the episode.

“We also pondered how to say ‘Iroquois’ for this particular story. The English way to say it, of course, is ‘eer-oh-koy,’ but the French pronunciation is ‘eer-oh-kwah.’ French traders and missionaries were interacting with St. Kateri’s village, so we decided to go with the French pronunciation,” explained Michael Mroziak, the podcast’s creator and producer. 

This the seventh of 10 episodes planned for the podcast’s third season. The next episode, featuring St. Sebastian, is scheduled for release Friday, Jan.17. That episode will feature the voices of students from Catholic Academy of Niagara Falls.All episodes are free to stream and download (click here to access the full Sister Justine playlist).