The Institute is named after and invokes the intercession of St. Kateri in our mission to promote the Catholic intellectual tradition in the beautiful setting of the Berkshires. She was born in the Mohawk village of Ossernenon, the site of present-day Auriesville, New York — only an hour-and-a-half drive away from Williamstown.

St. Kateri’s life represents a composite of charisms within the Catholic Church and thus reflects the rich intellectual tradition that the Institute seeks to promote. St. Kateri was baptized by French Jesuits. Her baptismal name, Kateri, is the Mohawk derivation of Catherine, as in the Dominican saint Catherine of Sienna. Like St. Francis of Assisi, she had a particular love for nature.

Situated as we are in the lovely Purple Valley, and concerned as we are for the careful stewardship of the environment, it is fitting that our institute’s patron, the “Lily of the Mohawks,” is also the patron saint of ecology and the environment.

We are inspired by her dedication and courage even amidst considerable suffering and persecution. Though ridiculed for her faith, young Kateri quietly endured the hostility to draw closer to Christ.