[1] Her siblings were older sister Carmelina and younger brother Juan de la Cruz; a maternal cousin was Luisa Upegui.

[2] In 1881 the precarious economic condition saw her sent to an orphanage that her maternal aunt María de Jesús Upegui, a religious sister, managed.

This aunt in 1890 enrolled her at "Normale de Institutoras" of Medellín to receive training to become a school teacher as a means of having an income to support the financial difficulties her mother faced.

Montoya became titled as Venerable on 22 January 1991 after Pope John Paul II confirmed that the late religious led a model life of heroic virtue.

Pope Benedict XVI approved a second miracle on 20 December 2012 and scheduled her canonization at a consistory on 11 February 2013 – which included the pontiff's resignation.

The canonization miracle involves the healing of Doctor Carlos Eduardo Restrepo who was suffering from lupus as well as kidney damage and muscular degeneration.