After surviving a smallpox epidemic that killed her parents and siblings, a half-blind and scarred young Mohawk girl became subject to beatings, continued criticism, sarcasm, and mockery by her foster parents for refusing to turn away from her Catholic mother's faith.

In the end, Father Pierre Cholonec, while sitting by her deathbed, witnessed the 24-year-old Mohawk woman's disfigured body and scars vanish only 15 minutes after she was pronounced dead.

Better known in the mid-1600s as the praying Indian or the Lily of the Mohawks, the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha for nearly four centuries has continued to impact the lives of many American Indian and non-Indian Catholics throughout the nation.

Kateri is being considered for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. She would be the first Native American to receive that honor.

With the Kateri Northwest Ministry, the Helena Diocese Native American Outreach Ministry has planned a time of sharing in prayer, spiritual development, and mutual awareness of Indian spirituality.

On April 24, the two ministries are planning a healing ceremony from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Our Lady of the Valley Parish on 1502 Shirley Road off North Montana.

Rose Morrison, an Oglala tribal member, said she was touched by the Blessed Kateri story nearly 14 years ago.

"I was touched because she was a Native person that was able to love the church totally without any anger or bitterness," she said.

Since then, she has been inspired to try and touch other peoples lives in a positive way.

Morrison said she has found many similarities between her cultural heritage and the church's practices and beliefs.

KNM was founded in 1989 by Fathers Tom Colgan S.J. and Richard Mercy S.J. in Spokane.

The shortage of Indian priests and trained Indian lay leaders created the need for the ministry.

In 2000, the Helena Diocese established NAOM to identify and address the needs of the urban Indian Catholics in its diocese.

In a combined effort, the two ministries work to discover ways for a mutual understanding and cultural awareness of the cultures and traditions of both the Indian and Catholic communities.

The story of the Blessed Kateri began in a small Mohawk community known as Ossernenon, in what is now Auriesville, N.Y.

Born in 1656 to Kahenta, a devout unbaptized Catholic and a Mohawk chief, Kateri's life was complicated not only by the damages of surviving smallpox, but because her heart burned to learn more about her mother's faith.

But the family Kateri lived with made it impossible to learn because of their own dislike of the Black Robes that preached in Mohawk villages.

Since Kateri refused to work in the fields on Sundays, the foster family deprived her of food and subjected her to physical and emotional abuses on that day.

However, the unshaken Kateri stayed strong to her Catholic faith.

Even when her foster family tried to force marriage on her, Kateri said she'd rather give her body and soul to Jesus as a virgin.

In the Ossernenon community, both children and drunken men often would chase her and pelt her with stones, calling her "the Christian."

On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, Kateri was baptized into the Catholic Church, becoming one of the first baptized Indian Catholics.

After a while, Father de Lamberville decided that because of the abuses Kateri endured, she should find her way to an Indian mission in Canada.

On July 14, 1677, she ran away from her abusive foster family and began the 300 mile trip into Canada. When she arrived at the Indian mission in Kahnawake, she was welcomed by Father Cholonec.

While at the Indian mission, Kateri became known for her continuous praying; for never being without her rosary; and for spending hour after hour at the altar talking to her God as a child would with their dearest friend.

For the last year of her life, Kateri's health had completely broken down from an illness that caused her severe pain in the head and stomach.

Then on April 17, 1680, Kateri spoke her last words: "Jesus and Mary." Half an hour later, she died at age 24.

As her story grew across the country, not only did the French and Jesuit missionaries in the area become impressed by the story, so did Kateri's own tribal members.

Orphaned, half-blind, and scarred by an illness, Kateri is said to have been molded into one of the most remarkable, hidden human beings to ever walk the trails of early America.

As a result, thousands of Roman Catholics throughout the United States and Canada have prayed that the Blessed Kateri would intercede with God on their behalf.

On May 9, 1939, the Cardinals of the Congregation of Rites recommended the Introduction of the Cause for her Beatification. Their decision was sanctioned by Pope Pius XII on May 19, 1939.

On June 22, 1980, John Paul II proclaimed Kateri a blessed. She is the only American Indian to be honored in such capacity by the Catholic Church.