Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997
"By blood, I am Albanian.
By citizenship, an Indian.
By faith, I am a Catholic nun.
As to my calling, I belong to the world.
As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus."
"The fruit of Faith is Love, the fruit of Love is Service."
Mother Teresa's Nazareth Prayer for the Family
Heavenly Father,
you have given us the model of life
in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to make our family another Nazareth
where love, peace and joy reign.
May it be deeply contemplative,
intensely eucharistic,
revived with joy.
Help us to stay together in joy
and sorrow in family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,
especially in their distressing disguise.
May the eucharistic heart of Jesus
make our hearts humble like his
and help us to carry out our family duties
in a holy way.
May we love one another
as God loves each one of us,
more and more each day,
and forgive each other's faults
as you forgive our sins.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to take whatever you give
and give whatever you take with a big smile.
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
cause of our joy, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Holy Guardian Angels,
be always with us,
guide and protect us.
Amen.
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"Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness."
Mother Teresa
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Prayer of Mother Teresa
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance
everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly
that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us and be so in us
that every soul we come in contact with
may feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.
Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine,
so to shine as to be light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from you.
None of it will be ours.
It will be you shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
by shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching,
not by words, but by our example;
by the catching force -
the sympathetic influence of what we do,
the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen.
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Official Mother Teresa website of the Missionaries of Charity
"Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many – the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families."
Quoted by President Pratibha Patil
"Her life of loving service to the poor has inspired many to follow the same path. Her witness and message are cherished by those of every religion as a sign that 'God still loves the world today,"
Quoted in a statement by members of the Missionaries of Charity
after Mother Teresa beatification announcement
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Bio
Born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on 26 August 1910 to a family of Albanian descent. She has always considered 27 August 1910 as her "true birthday" which is the day she was baptized. Received calling from God at age of 12 and was aware becoming a missionary to spread the love of Christ. She joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India at the age of 18. After training in Dublin, she was assigned to mission in India. On 24 May 1931, took her first religious vows as a nun in India and she chose to be named after St.Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries. As the named "Therese" was already taken by another sister in the convent, she opted for "Teresa" (spelling in spanish). Mother Teresa took her solemn vows on 14 May 1937 at the Loreto convent school in Entally, eastern Calcutta where she was then teaching.
Mother Teresa was fluent in 5 languages which comprises of English, Kolkata, Bengali, Albanian, Serbo-Croatian and Hindi. On 7 October 1950, Mother Teresa received Vatican permission to start the diocesan congregation, the "Missionaries of Charity" (Its mission was to care for, in Mother Teresa own words, "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."), which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and is actively functioning in 133 countries. Missionaries of Charity became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI in 1965.
On 13 March 1997, she stepped down as the head of Missionaries of Charity. She died on 5 September 1997. His holiness Pope John Paul II, recognized the healing of an Indian woman which occured on the first anniversary of Mother Teresa death as the first miracle needed to beatify Mother Teresa. On 19 October 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa which took place in Rome, Italy. After her beatification, the recognition of a second miracle will be required for canonization into sainthood.
Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world. She was the receipient of a number of awards and distinctions, which includes :
> the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971)
> the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972)
> the Balzan Prize (1979)
> the Templeton and Magsaysay awards
In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of her birth, the government of India issued a special 5 Rupee coin on 28 August 2010.
Mother Teresa shrine is visited daily by local Indian pilgrims and also pilgrims from around the world, seeking her help and God's unfailing love through the intercessions of her prayers.
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