Celebrating St Teresa of Calcutta

St Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)

September 4 is a historic date for the church as Teresa of Calcutta, “the saint of the gutters” will be canonized at the Vatican by Pope Francis. Always considered a living saint, our new saint Teresa of Calcutta was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Albania. There is a discrepancy between the date of 26 and 27, mainly because in the USA she would have been born on the 26th, but being born in Albania it would have been 9 hours earlier, which would be the 27th. She also considered the 27th as her birthday because on that day she was baptized, which was a much more important day for her.  Named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, she was of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship. She joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland in 1928 taking the name Mary Teresa, in honor of St Therese of Lisieux, who had just been canonized. A year later, she made her first trip to Calcutta, and started to teach at St Mary’s school in Entally, and stayed there until 1946. 

That same year she founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. Presently her order numbers 4,500 members in 133 countries. Following her death she was beatified on October 19th 2003 by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Her liturgical feastday is celebrated on September 5th.