Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena Montoya
Colombian catholic sister (1875–1949)
Feast: 21 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Laura Montoya y Upegui was born on 26 May 1874 at Jericó, Antioquia, Colombia, to parents of modest means and firm faith. When she was three her father was killed by political opponents.
She organised missionary journeys with her mother and companions in what she called 'the work of the Indians', and founded the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and St Catherine of Siena to bring the Gospel to indigenous peoples who did not yet know Christ. After nine years in a wheelchair and a long agony, she died at Medellín on 21 October 1949.
The miracles
Herminia González — 1994
An extraordinary healing from terminal cancer of the uterus; the decree on the miracle was promulgated on 7 July 2003.
Why that counted as sanctity
A teacher who carried the Gospel to Colombia's indigenous peoples.
Connected on this site
- Catherine of Siena Saint“Laura Montoya, in full María Laura de Jesús Montoya Upegui (26 May 1874 – 21 October 1949), religious name Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena, was a Colombian Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and Saint Catherine of Siena (1914).” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena
- Wikidata Q1141596 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Laura Montoya (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.