Today, September 5, is the memorial of Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
Foundress of the Missionaries of Charity.
Mother Teresa was baptized Gonxha Agnes. At the age of 18, Gonxha left her home in September 1928 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, In Ireland. There she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after the Carmelite Doctor of the Church and patron saint of missionaries, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
In December, she departed for India, arriving in Calcutta on January 6, 1929. Sister Teresa taught at St. Mary’s School for girls. On May 24, 1937, Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, from that time on she was called Mother Teresa.
On September 10, 1946 during the train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received her “inspiration,” her “call within a call.” Within her soul, Jesus revealed His pain at the neglect of the poor, his sorrow at their ignorance of Him and His longing for their love. He asked Mother Teresa to establish a religious community, Missionaries of Charity, dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. On August 17, 1948, she dressed for the first time in a white, blue-bordered sari and passed through the gates of her beloved Loreto convent to enter the world of the poor.
She received numerous awards, among them the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
After many years of selfless service to the poor, Mother Teresa passed away on September 5, 1997.
Less than two years after her death, in view of Mother Teresa’s widespread reputation of holiness and the favors being reported, Pope St. John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization.
Her friend Pope St. John Paul II beatified her in October 19, 2003. Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa of Calcutta on September 4, 2016.