Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Canonization of a Woman of Unshakable Faith and Invincible Hope
Less than two years after her death, in view of Mother Theresa's widespread reputation Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization.
Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu was born to Nikola and Drane on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, a city steeped in Balkan history. She was a youngest child who received her First Communion at the age of five and a half and was confirmed in November 1916.
Her father died suddenly when she was about eight years old leaving the family in financial straits. She was raised "firmly and lovingly, " and her religious formation was assisted by the "vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart in which she was much involved." Vatican.va
When she was eighteen, an already inspired Gonxha joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, September 1928. The order was of the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. She received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
In 1929, Sister Theresa arrived in Calcutta. She made her First Profession of Vows in May 1931, and was assigned to the Loreto Entally community in Calcutta to teach girls.
From the time that the devout woman made her Final Profession of Vows, 24 May 1937, she was called Mother Teresa. In 1944, she became the school’s principal. She was profoundly happy, accepted and well loved in this role.
On 10 September 1946, and thereafter, Mother Teresa found herself experiencing a profound dialogue with Jesus Christ. This divine intuition and experience of enlightened knowledge about God's will for her was subjected to nearly two years of testing and discernment . After this she was given permission to form the Missionaries of Charity. It was to be dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. On August 17, 1948, dressed in a white, blue-bordered sari she left her beloved Loreto Convent to enter their world. From then on, she ministered to the disenfranchised and the sick. She would start each day in communion with Jesus in the Eucharist. With her Rosary in her hand, she would go out each day to find and serve Jesus, as evidenced in “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.” One by one, her former students decided to join her.
As time went on, Mother Theresa gained world recognition. She won awards such as the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962, and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
As a role model Mother Theresa exemplified the joy of loving, and a respect for the greatness and dignity of every human being, the value of faithfulness and ability to commune with and to listen to God's will for her.
After her death (and against her wishes) it was revealed that she experienced times of what she called “the darkness.” Her experiences and struggles as she worked with the poor continued to the end of her life. By working through these difficult interior times she grew towards an ever more profound union with God. "Through the darkness she mystically participated in the thirst of Jesus, in His painful and burning longing for love, and she shared in the interior desolation of the poor." Vatican.va
By 1997, the year Mother Teresa died, her Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, in 610 foundations, in 123 countries. In 1999, Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization. On 20 December 2002, he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues and miracles. You might like to read the Homily of John Paul II.
