St Teresa of Calcutta

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Teresa of Calcutta.

St. Teresa of Calcutta was a very loving and kind person. St. Teresa was beatified on October 19, 2003 and many people where present on that day especially hundreds of Missionaries of Charity which is the order that she founded during the year 1950.

St. Teresa was born to Albanian parents in Skopje, Macedonia. St. Teresa was given the name Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu and she was the youngest of the three children who survived. As a young child St. Teresa always had a very large desire to serve others. When she had turned 18, she entered the Loreto Sisters of Dublin. A year later, St. Teresa was able to move to the Loreto novitiate which was in Darjeeling, India. There she was able to choose the name Teresa and she had prepared for a life of service.

During the year 1946, while St. Teresa was riding a train to Darjeeling, St. Teresa was able to hear a calling that changed her life. St. Teresa explained this event saying, “It was a call within a call. The message was clear. I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.” St. Teresa also heard a call to give up her life with the Sisters of Loreto and, to “follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.”

St. Teresa listened to this beautiful calling and she decided to return to Calcutta, where she had lived in very poor areas and she had served the poor, the vulnerable and she opened a school for poor children. St. Teresa had a lot of work to do, however, she was not alone for long. Many volunteers had decided to join her in the work, some of the volunteers were her former students, and the volunteers had became the core of the Missionaries of Charity. As the order had began to grow, services were also offered to orphans, abandoned children, alcoholics, the aging, and street people.

For many years, St. Teresa had worked tirelessly on behalf of the poor. St. Teresa’s love was so large that it had no end. Nor did her energy, St. Teresa had gone around the world asking for support and inviting others to be able to see the face of Jesus in the poorest of the poor. During the year 1979, St. Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. On September 5, 1997, God had called her home. St. Teresa was later canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016.

Prayer to St. Teresa of Calcutta:

St. Teresa intercede that we may see the face of Jesus in the poor and vulnerable in our community. St. Teresa help us to serve others before ourselves regardless of how busy we may be. St. Teresa guide us during our lives so that we may deepen our intimacy with Christ through our service towards others.

Amen

St. Teresa of Calcutta pray for us

St. Joseph pray for us

May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.

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Works cited

Information (read from, not taken):

Franciscan media. “Saint Teresa of Calcutta. ”Saint Teresa of Calcutta | Franciscan Media. Accessed September 5, 2021.

Images:

Saint Teresa of Calcutta. September 5, 2021. Mother Teresa - Google Search.