Mother Teresa now a Saint
September 4, 2016
by Alyssa Patrisse Alonzo
by Alyssa Patrisse Alonzo
Poster by Kenichi Tigas
THE ONCE called Mother is now a Saint.
Blessed Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life helping the “little ones” or the poor people in India, will join the Holy People of God as Pope Francis today lead the canonization of the living saint of Calcutta in Vatican.
After 13 years since her beatification by Pope John Paul II, let us take look at Mother Teresa’s holy life which inspired a lot of people in promoting charity amid the busy life of the modern world.
The Catholic nun and missionary Mother Teresa was born at Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia on August 26, 1910. She was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family. Mother Teresa’s father was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics.
Agnes attended a convent-run primary school and then a state-run secondary school. The congregation made an annual pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnice, and it was on one such trip at the age of 12 that she first felt a calling to a religious life.
After six years, Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin at the age of 18. It was there that she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
A year later, Sister Mary Teresa traveled on to Darjeeling, India, for the novitiate period. Afterward she was sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for Girls, a school run by the Loreto Sisters and dedicated to teaching girls from the city's poorest Bengali families. Sister Teresa taught geography and history and dedicated herself to alleviating the girls' poverty through education.
On May 24, 1937, she took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. As was the custom for Loreto nuns, she took on the title of "Mother" upon making her final vows and thus became known as Mother Teresa.
Through her kindness, generosity and unfailing commitment to her students' education, she sought to lead them to a life of devotion to Christ. "Give me the strength to be ever the light of their lives, so that I may lead them at last to you," she wrote in prayer.
However, on September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced a second calling, the "call within a call" that would forever transform her life. She was riding in a train, she said Christ spoke to her and told her to abandon teaching to work in the slums of Calcutta aiding the city's poorest and sickest people.
But since Mother Teresa had taken a vow of obedience, she could not leave her convent without official permission. In January 1948 she finally received approval to pursue this new calling. That August, she left the Loreto convent.
After six months of basic medical training, she journeyed for the first time into Calcutta's slums with no more specific a goal than to aid "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for."
Mother Teresa quickly translated this somewhat vague calling into concrete actions to help the city's poor. In October 1950, she won canonical recognition for a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded with only a handful of members—most of them former teachers or pupils from St. Mary's School.
The scope of Mother Teresa's charitable activities expanded exponentially. After 10 years, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics.
In 1971, Mother Teresa traveled to New York City to open her first American-based house of charity, and in the summer of 1982, she secretly went to Beirut, Lebanon, where she crossed between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut to aid children of both faiths.
In 1985, Mother Teresa returned to New York and spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. While there, she also opened Gift of Love, a home to care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.
In February 1965, Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted Mother Teresa to begin expanding internationally. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered more than 4,000—in addition to thousands more lay volunteers—with 610 foundations in 123 countries around the world.
For her tireless and effective charity, she was awarded the Jewel of India, the highest honor bestowed on Indian civilians, as well as the now-defunct Soviet Union's Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee.
And in 1979, Mother Teresa won her highest honor when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work "in bringing help to suffering humanity."---Biography.com
Link: http://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160
Blessed Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life helping the “little ones” or the poor people in India, will join the Holy People of God as Pope Francis today lead the canonization of the living saint of Calcutta in Vatican.
After 13 years since her beatification by Pope John Paul II, let us take look at Mother Teresa’s holy life which inspired a lot of people in promoting charity amid the busy life of the modern world.
The Catholic nun and missionary Mother Teresa was born at Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia on August 26, 1910. She was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family. Mother Teresa’s father was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics.
Agnes attended a convent-run primary school and then a state-run secondary school. The congregation made an annual pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnice, and it was on one such trip at the age of 12 that she first felt a calling to a religious life.
After six years, Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin at the age of 18. It was there that she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
A year later, Sister Mary Teresa traveled on to Darjeeling, India, for the novitiate period. Afterward she was sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for Girls, a school run by the Loreto Sisters and dedicated to teaching girls from the city's poorest Bengali families. Sister Teresa taught geography and history and dedicated herself to alleviating the girls' poverty through education.
On May 24, 1937, she took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. As was the custom for Loreto nuns, she took on the title of "Mother" upon making her final vows and thus became known as Mother Teresa.
Through her kindness, generosity and unfailing commitment to her students' education, she sought to lead them to a life of devotion to Christ. "Give me the strength to be ever the light of their lives, so that I may lead them at last to you," she wrote in prayer.
However, on September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced a second calling, the "call within a call" that would forever transform her life. She was riding in a train, she said Christ spoke to her and told her to abandon teaching to work in the slums of Calcutta aiding the city's poorest and sickest people.
But since Mother Teresa had taken a vow of obedience, she could not leave her convent without official permission. In January 1948 she finally received approval to pursue this new calling. That August, she left the Loreto convent.
After six months of basic medical training, she journeyed for the first time into Calcutta's slums with no more specific a goal than to aid "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for."
Mother Teresa quickly translated this somewhat vague calling into concrete actions to help the city's poor. In October 1950, she won canonical recognition for a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded with only a handful of members—most of them former teachers or pupils from St. Mary's School.
The scope of Mother Teresa's charitable activities expanded exponentially. After 10 years, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics.
In 1971, Mother Teresa traveled to New York City to open her first American-based house of charity, and in the summer of 1982, she secretly went to Beirut, Lebanon, where she crossed between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut to aid children of both faiths.
In 1985, Mother Teresa returned to New York and spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. While there, she also opened Gift of Love, a home to care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.
In February 1965, Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted Mother Teresa to begin expanding internationally. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered more than 4,000—in addition to thousands more lay volunteers—with 610 foundations in 123 countries around the world.
For her tireless and effective charity, she was awarded the Jewel of India, the highest honor bestowed on Indian civilians, as well as the now-defunct Soviet Union's Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee.
And in 1979, Mother Teresa won her highest honor when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work "in bringing help to suffering humanity."---Biography.com
Link: http://www.biography.com/people/mother-teresa-9504160
Alyssa Patrissse Alonzo is the former Executive Vice President of the Pax Romana AB Unit
She is currently taking her fourth year in AB Behavioral Sciences
She is currently taking her fourth year in AB Behavioral Sciences