The first-ever North American aboriginal will be canonized to become a Catholic saint in a ceremony at the Vatican on Sunday.

Centuries after her death, Kateri Tekakwitha will become a Catholic saint at a canonization mass.

She will be made a saint by Pope Benedict XVI.

House of Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer will lead a Canadian delegation that includes Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Minister Denis Lebel and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue at the mass.

“The story of Kateri Tekakwitha is pious and it is powerful,” Scheer said in a statement. “Her elevation to sainthood is a momentous occasion for Canadian Catholics and many First Nations people, as well as a deep honour for Canada.”

Known as Lily of the Mohawks, Tekakwitha, was born in 1656 to a Mohawk father and Christian Algonquin mother in present-day New York State.

She moved to a a Christian Mohawk village in present-day Kahnawake, Que., following her baptism when she was 20.

Four years later, she died there.

Since her death, many miracles, including the healing of a five-year-old boy with flesh-eating disease, have been credited to her.

She has risen to become a beloved figure in the Catholic Church, especially in First Nations communities in Canada and the United States.

Her tomb is located at the St. Francis Xavier Mission in Kahnawake.

Kateri Tekakwitha was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII in 1943 and beatified in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.