St. Teresa of Calcutta

By TOM DENNEHY

Saint Teresa of Calcutta is one of the great saints of our time and her feast day is celebrated during the month of September. Mother Teresa was born in Macedonia and was christened Agnes. Her family was of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt strongly the call of God. She knew she had to become a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen, she left her parental home and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months training in Dublin, she was sent to India where on May 24, 1931 she took her initial vows to become a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary’s High School in Calcutta.

On September 10th, 1946 on a train when going on her yearly retreat she had what she describes as “a call within a call”. In the subsequent weeks and months through a flood of mystical experiences that included visions, the details of The Lord’s call became clear. At the heart of this call was a plea to Teresa, who had such a love of Jesus, to found the Missionaries of Charity religious congregation.

In 1948, she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devoted herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Although she had no funds, she depended on Divine Providence and started an open air school for slum children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and financial support was also forthcoming. This made it possible to extend the scope of her work. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, The Missionaries of Charity, whose primary aim was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after.

In 1965 the Society became an international religious family by decree of Pope Paul V1. The society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help for the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They also provide relief work in the wake of natural disasters such as floods, epidemics, and famine and for refugees. By 1990 there were over one million co-workers in more than 40 countries.

Saint Mother Teresa attributes the success of her work to daily prayer and Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament which still continues today. At the beginning, when she had only a few followers she received in prayer a request from the Lord to spend one hour in Adoration in addition to Holy Mass each day. She wondered how she would have time to do this along with the huge demands on their services but she was obedient.

Very soon afterwards, many began to join her order and as a result we see the miraculous growth that has taken place. This is a testimony to the power of Adoration of the Holy Eucharist.

Mother Teresa challenges us in so many ways. One of her best known sayings is “ The fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.”

For her, Jesus who is present in the Eucharist, is present in a different equally real way “in the distressing disguise of the poor”.

Jesus is the Hungry --to be fed.

Jesus is the Thirsty --to be satiated.

Jesus is the Naked - to be clothed.

Jesus is the Homeless - to be taken in.

Jesus is the Sick - to be healed.

Jesus is the Lonely--to be loved.

It was her love for Jesus that prompted Mother Teresa, like other saints before her, to do the wonderful work she did.

On one occasion, someone observing what Mother Teresa was doing for a poor person, exclaimed, “I would not do that for all the gold in the world”. Mother Teresa replied “Neither would I.” She meant of course that she was doing her good work not for any monetary gain but for Jesus.

Saint Mother Teresa knew the poor needed bread, clothes and medicine but she also knew that equally important was their need for love and human warmth. They deserved to be treated with dignity and respect.

Mother Teresa’s work has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions. She received The Nobel Prize in 1979.

She was canonized in 2016 by Pope Francis just nineteen years after her death on the 5th September 1997.