September 5 marks the Feast Day of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who is well-known all over the world as “Mother Teresa,” a Roman Catholic nun who devoted much of herself in caring for the poor in India. Pope Francis describes this newly canonized saint as a “model of holiness” for Catholics with her “emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life.” Mother Teresa’s tiny frame is totally the opposite of the exceedingly huge recognition and support she was given for her charitable and humanitarian work. One of which was the distinguished Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 where she spoke about not only of material poverty but also poverty in people who felt unloved and unwanted. True to the Catholic faith, she also took strong opposition against controversial topics of abortion and contraception. She extended the faith and action beyond herself by establishing the Missionaries of Charity, a congregation of Roman Catholic sisters who care for the poorest, sickest and dying people primarily from Calcutta. Her canonization places her among the saints venerated by the entire Catholic Church.
Saint Mother Teresa was born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu into an Albanian family in Skopje, Macedonia on 26 August 1910. Her father was a respected figure in Albanian business and politics while her mother was known to be deeply pious. Even at a young age, Mother Teresa was keen on learning more about the lives of missionaries in Bengal and that made up her mind to enter the religious life as well. She left home at age eighteen and set out to Ireland to be a member of the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey where she also learned to speak English. The Loreto Order sent her to India to teach children. Although she enjoyed teaching, she became increasingly disturbed by the poverty afflicting most of the people in the community.
As Saint Mother Teresa recalled, she had an inspiration once during a long train ride, in which she received a “call within a call” as she termed it. The message to her was to give life to a new religious congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, that would focus on sick people dying of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and leprosy. Its mission was also to feed and teach the poorest of the poor. Soon after, the group started to grow and expanded to other countries, gaining attention of donors and leaders all over the world who gave donations as contribution to their cause. Around the time of Saint Mother Teresa’s death in 1997, there were nearly 4,000 Sister members and the group brought up almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world. Huge crowds of Catholics and Missionaries of Charity nuns welcomed the declaration of Mother Teresa as saint in the Vatican, as the whole Catholic community remembered her life of service to God’s children.
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!
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What a saint