“They say where nothingness and greatness come together both complete each other and make something beautiful for God. This is exactly what I feel about you and me—as it is all for Jesus. I have nothing more to say—but that all be for the greater glory of God and His poor.” St. (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta
In many places, today is observed as the memorial of St. Teresa of Calcutta. For some reason, her feastday is not included in the General Roman Calendar or the liturgical calendar proper to the United States. September 5th, however, is the anniversary of her death and we are now in the 7th year after her canonization.
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Mother Teresa wasn’t always named Mother Teresa! She was born in 1910 into a regular family, like most of us, in modern day Macedonia in Southeast Europe. Her name was Anjezë, which is rendered as Agnes in English. When she was 18 years old, she felt called to be a Religious Sister, so she left home for Ireland and joined a religious order called the Sisters of Loreto. A woman Religious will often choose a new name when she becomes a Sister, and she took the name Sister Teresa, after St. Therese of Lisieux. She was sent to Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher for many years.
One day, when she was on a long train ride, Sister Teresa experienced a powerful moment of prayer. She heard Jesus asking her to leave the Sisters of Loreto to take care of the people who needed help on the streets of Calcutta. She had no idea how she would do it, but she knew she had to try. Some of the students from the school where she taught came to help. These women were the first to join her new Order of Sisters, called the Missionaries of Charity. It was then that Sister Teresa became Mother Teresa, the founder of a new Order. There are now over 4,500 sisters working in countries all over the world!
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For more: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1979/teresa/biographical/
From the College of Holy Cross (2016): https://news.holycross.edu/blog/2016/09/01/visit-of-mother-teresa-of-calcutta-remembered-at-holy-cross-2/
From Saint of the Day: https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-teresa-of-calcutta/
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Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu nació en 1910 en Skopje, entonces Albania y actual Macedonia. Murió el 5 de septiembre de 1997 en su amada Calcuta, India. Cuando se hizo religiosa tomó el nombre de Teresa. Es la fundadora de las Misioneras de la Caridad. Decía de sí misma: “De sangre soy albanesa. De ciudadanía, India. En lo referente a la fe, soy una monja Católica. Por mi vocación, pertenezco al mundo. En lo que se refiere a mi corazón, pertenezco totalmente al Corazón de Jesús.”
Para leer más: https://www.aciprensa.com/recurso/3603/testimonios-sobre-la-madre-teresa-de-calcuta
