St. Eudoxius
Feastday: September 5
Death: 311
Martyr with Zeno, Macarius, and companions. Part of a large group of soldiers martyred at Melitene, Armenia
St. Herculanils
Feastday: September 5
Death: 180
Martyr at Porto, near Rome.
St. Joseph Canh
Feastday: September 5
Death: 1838
Martyr of Vietnam. He was a native physician of Vietnam, a Dominican tertiary, and was beheaded by the Japanese authorities because of his refusal to deny Christ. Joseph was canonized in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.
St. Lawrence Giustiniani
Feastday: September 5
Birth: 1381
Death: 1456
Bishop of Venice, a scion of the noble Venetian family of the Giustiniani. He is a noted mystic and contemplative writer. Lawrence was canonized in 1690, but his cult is now confined to local calendars.
St. Quintius
Feastday: September 5
Death: unknown
One of three martyrs, who were put to death at Capua, Italy.
St. Romulus
Feastday: September 5
Death: 112
Roman martyr. He was a member of the imperial court under Emperor Trajan. When Romulus spoke out against the persecutions of Christians, Trajan commanded that he should be arrested and put to death in the same manner as those in whose defense he had spoken.
St. Teresa of Calcutta
✠ புனிதர் அன்னை தெரேசா ✠
(St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
அர்ப்பணிக்கப்பட்ட மறைப்பணியாளர், கன்னியர்:
(Consecrated Religious, Nun)
பிறப்பு: ஆகஸ்ட் 26, 1910
உஸ்குப், கொசோவோ விலயெட், ஒட்டோமன் பேரரசு
(Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire)
இறப்பு: செப்டம்பர் 5, 1997 (வயது 87)
கொல்கத்தா, மேற்கு வங்காளம், இந்தியா
(Calcutta, West Bengal, India)
ஏற்கும் சமயம்:
ரோமன் கத்தோலிக் திருச்சபை
(Roman Catholic Church)
துறவற சபைகள்:
லொரெட்டோ சகோதரிகள் (Sisters of Loreto - 1928–1950)
பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர் சபை (Missionaries of Charity - 1950–1997)
அருளாளர் பட்டம்: அக்டோபர் 19, 2003
திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பால்
(Pope John Paul II)
புனிதர் பட்டம்: செப்டம்பர் 4, 2016
திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ்
(Pope Francis)
முக்கிய திருத்தலம்:
தாய் இல்லம், மிஷினரீஸ் ஆஃப் சேரிட்டி, கல்கத்தா, மேற்கு வங்காளம், இந்தியா
(Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity, Calcutta, West Bengal, India)
நினைவுத் திருநாள்: செப்டம்பர் 5
பாதுகாவல்:
உலக இளைஞர் தினம்
கருணை இல்லங்கள்
புனிதர் அன்னை தெரேசா, ஒரு அல்பேனியன் – இந்திய (Albanian-Indian) ரோமன் கத்தோலிக்க அருட்சகோதரியும், மறைப்பணியாளருமாவார். அன்னையின் இயற்பெயர், “அன்ஜெஸ் கோன்க்ஸே போஜாக்ஸியு” (Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) ஆகும். (கோன்க்ஸே என்பதற்கு அல்பேனிய மொழியில் "ரோஜா அரும்பு" என்று பொருள்).
தற்போதைய “மசெடோனியா குடியரசின்” (Republic of Macedonia) தலைநகரும், அன்றைய ஒட்டோமன் பேரரசின் “கொசோவோ விலயெட்” (Kosovo Vilayet) எனுமிடத்தில் பிறந்த அன்னை, தமது பதினெட்டு வயதுவரை அங்கே வாழ்ந்தார். பின்னர் அயர்லாந்துக்கும், அதன்பின்னர் இந்தியாவுக்கும் சென்றார்.
ஒரு “கொசோவர் அல்பேனியன்” (Kosovar Albanian family) குடும்பத்தில் பிறந்த அன்ஜெஸுக்கு எட்டு வயதானபோது, அவரது தந்தை மரணமடைந்தார். பின்னர், அவரது தாயார் அவரை நல்லதொரு கத்தோலிக்க பெண்ணாக வளர்த்தார். தமது பதினெட்டாம் வயதில் வீட்டை விட்டு வெளியேறி, "லொரேட்டோ சகோதரிகளின்" (Sisters of Loreto) சபையில் மறைப் பணியாளராகத் தம்மை இணைத்துக் கொண்டார். அதற்குப் பிறகு தமது தாயையோ, அல்லது உடன்பிறந்த சகோதரியையோ மீண்டும் சந்திக்கவில்லை.
அன்ஜெஸ், இந்தியாவின் பள்ளிக் குழந்தைகளுக்குக் கல்வி கற்பிக்க லொரேட்டோ சகோதரிகள் பயன்படுத்தும் மொழியான ஆங்கிலத்தைக் கற்பதற்காக, அயர்லாந்தின் “ரத்ஃபர்ன்ஹாமில்” (Rathfarnham) உள்ள லொரேட்டோ கன்னியர் (Sisters of Loreto Abbey) மடத்திற்கு முதலில் சென்றார்.
1929ம் ஆண்டு அவர் இந்தியா வந்தடைந்து இமயமலை அருகே உள்ள டார்ஜீலிங்கில் தமது துறவற புகுநிலையினருக்கான பயிற்சியினை ஆரம்பித்தார். தனது முதல் நிலை துறவற உறுதிமொழியினை அவர் 1931ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 24ம் நாளன்று, ஏற்றார். அச்சமயம், மறைப்பணியாளரின் பாதுகாவலரான “லிசியே நகரின் புனிதர் தெரேசாவின்” (Thérèse de Lisieux) பெயரைத் தேர்ந்தெடுத்துக் கொண்டார். கிழக்குக் கல்கத்தாவின் லொரேட்டோ கன்னியர் மடப் பள்ளியில் தனது இறுதி துறவற உறுதிமொழியினை 1937ம் ஆண்டு, மே மாதம், 14ம் தேதி ஏற்றார்.
பள்ளிக்கூடத்தில் கற்பிக்கும் பணியை தெரேசா விரும்பினாலும் கல்கத்தாவில் அவரைச் சூழ்ந்துள்ள பகுதிகளின் வறுமை நிலை அவரை அதிகமாய் கலங்கச் செய்தது. 1943ம் ஆண்டின் பஞ்சம், துயரத்தையும் சாவையும் அந்நகரத்துக்குக் கொணர்ந்தது என்றால் 1946ம் ஆண்டின் இந்து - முஸ்லிம் வன்முறை அந்நகரத்தை நம்பிக்கையின்மையிலும் அச்சத்திலும் ஆழ்த்தியது.
பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர் சபை:
1946ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், 10ம் நாளன்று, தியானத்திற்காகக் கல்கத்தாவிலிருந்து, டார்ஜீலிங்கின் லொரேட்டோ கன்னிமடத்திற்கு தெரேசா பயணம் செய்தபொழுது அவருக்கு நேர்ந்த உள்ளுணர்வை அவர் பின்நாட்களில் "அழைப்பினுள் நிகழ்ந்த அழைப்பு" என அழைத்தார். "நான் கன்னியர் மடத்தை விட்டு வெளியேறி, ஏழைகள் மத்தியில் வாழ்ந்து கொண்டே அவர்களுக்கு உதவ வேண்டும். அது ஒரு கட்டளை. அதனைத் தவறுவது (இறை) நம்பிக்கையை மறுதலிப்பதற்கு ஒப்பானது." என்றார் அவர். 1948ம் ஆண்டில் ஏழைகளுடனான தமது சேவையை ஆரம்பித்தார்.
லொரேட்டோ துறவற சபையின் சீருடைகளைக் களைந்து, நீல நிற கரையிட்ட சாதாரண வெண்ணிற பருத்தி புடவையை சீருடையாய் அணிந்தவராய், இந்திய குடியுரிமையினைப் பெற்றுக்கொண்டு குடிசை பகுதிகளுக்குள் சேவை செய்தார். தொடக்கத்தில் மோதிஜில்லில் பள்ளிக்கூடம் ஆரம்பித்த அவர் பின்னர் ஆதரவற்றோர் மற்றும் பசியினால் வாடுவோரின் தேவைகளை நிறைவேற்றத் தொடங்கினார். அவரது முயற்சிகள் விரைவிலேயே பிரதமர் உட்பட இந்தியாவின் உயர் அதிகாரிகளின் கவனத்தை அவர் பக்கம் ஈர்த்து அவர்களது பாராட்டுதல்களைப் பெற்றுத்தந்தன.
தெரேசா தனது நாட்குறிப்பில், தனது முதல் வருடம் துன்பங்கள் நிறைந்ததென்றும், வருமானமில்லாத காரணத்தால் உணவுக்காகவும், ஏனைய பொருட்களுக்காகவும் யாசிக்க நேர்ந்ததென்றும், ஆரம்ப நாட்களில் சந்தேகமும், தனிமையும், கன்னிமடத்தின் வசதிகளுக்குத் திரும்பும் சலனமும் ஏற்பட்டதென்றும் தனது நாட்குறிப்பில் எழுதினார்.
1950ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 7ம் தேதி, பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர் சபையை மறைமாவட்ட அளவில் துவக்க தெரெசாவுக்கு கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபையில் அனுமதி அளிக்கப்பட்டது. அச்சபையின் குறிக்கோளாக அவர் கூறியது, "உண்ண உணவற்றவர்கள், உடுத்த உடையற்றவர்கள், வீடற்றவர்கள், முடமானவர்கள், குருடர்கள், தொழு நோயாளிகள் போன்றோர்களையும், தங்களை சமூகத்திற்கே தேவையற்றவர்களெனவும், அன்பு செய்யப்படாதவர்களெனவும், கவனிக்கப் படாதவர்களெனவும் எண்ணிக் கொண்டிருப்பவர்களையும், சமூகத்திற்கே பெரும் பாரமென்று எண்ணப்பட்டு அனைவராலும் புறக்கணிக்கப் பட்டவர்களையும் கவனித்தலே ஆகும்."
கொல்கத்தாவில் 13 உறுப்பினர்களைக் கொண்ட சிறியதொரு அமைப்பாக ஆரம்பிக்கப்பட்ட இச்சபை, இன்று 6000க்கும் மேலான அருட்சகோதரிகளால் நடத்தப்படும் அனாதை இல்லங்களையும், எய்ட்ஸ் நல்வாழ்வு மையங்களையும், தொண்டு மையங்களையும் தன்னகத்தே கொண்டு அகதிகள், குருடர், ஊனமுற்றோர், முதியோர், மது அடிமைகள், ஏழை எளியோர், வீடற்றோர், வெள்ளத்தினாலும், தொற்றுநோயாலும் பஞ்சத்தாலும் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்கள் போன்றவர்களைக் கவனிக்கும் இடமாகவும் இருக்கிறது.
இவர், சிறந்த சமூக சேவகர் எனவும், ஏழைகளுக்கும் ஆதரவற்றோருக்கும் பரிந்து பேசுபவர் என்றும் உலகம் முழுவதும் புகழப்பட்டார்.
1950ம் ஆண்டு, இந்தியாவின் கொல்கத்தாவில் "பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர்" என்ற கத்தோலிக்க துறவற சபையினை நிறுவினார். நாற்பத்தைந்து வருடங்களுக்கும் மேலாக ஏழை எளியோர்களுக்கும், நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டோருக்கும், அனாதைகளுக்கும், இறக்கும் தறுவாயிலிருப்போருக்கும் சேவை செய்து தொண்டாற்றியவர் இவர். முதலில் இந்தியா முழுவதும், பின்னர் வெளிநாடுகளுக்கும் "பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர் சபை"யினை நிறுவினார்.
இவர் 1979ல் அமைதிக்கான நோபல் பரிசினையும், 1980ல் இந்தியாவின் சிறந்த குடிமக்கள் விருதான பாரத ரத்னா விருதினையும் பெற்றார்.
அன்னை தெரேசாவின் "பிறர் அன்பின் பணியாளர் சபை", அவர் மறைந்தபோது 123 நாடுகளில் 610 தொண்டு நிறுவனங்களுடன் இயங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. இதில் எய்ட்ஸ், தொழு நோய் மற்றும் காசநோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டவர்களுக்கான நல்வாழ்வு மையங்கள், இலவச உணவு வழங்குமிடங்கள், குழந்தைகள் மற்றும் குடும்பத்திற்கான ஆலோசனைத் திட்டங்கள், அனாதை இல்லங்கள், பள்ளிக்கூடங்கள் ஆகியவை அடங்கும்.
அன்னை அவர்களைப் பற்றி எழுதுவதானால், நிறைய எழுதிக் கொண்டே போகலாம். அன்னையின் கடைசி காலம், மிகவும் கடினமானதாக இருந்தது. இதயக் கோளாறுகளால் அவதிப்பட்டார். ஏப்ரல் 1996ல் அன்னை தெரேசா கீழே விழுந்து அவரது காறை எலும்பு முறிந்தது. ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம், மலேரியாவினாலும், இதய கீழறைக் கோளாறினாலும் அவதிப்பட்டார். இதய அறுவை சிகிச்சைக்குட்பட்ட போதிலும் அவரது உடல்நிலை மோசமாகிக் கொண்டிருந்தது. அன்னை 1997ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், ஐந்தாம் தேதி மரணமடைந்தார்.
செப்டம்பர் 1997ல் இறுதிச்சடங்கிற்கு முன்னதாக ஒரு வார காலம் அன்னை தெரேசாவின் உடல் கொல்கத்தாவின் புனித தோமையார் ஆலயத்தில் பொதுமக்கள் பார்வைக்கு வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது. அனைத்து மத ஏழைகளுக்கும் அவர் ஆற்றிய தொண்டுக்குப் பரிகாரமாக, இந்திய அரசின் அரசு மரியாதையுடன் கூடிய இறுதிச்சடங்கு செய்யப்பட்டது.
அவரது செயல்களையும், சாதனைகளையும் பகுத்தாய்ந்த திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் அருள் சின்னப்பர், "மானுட சேவையில் தன்னை முழுமையாக ஈடுபடுத்தத் தேவையான பலனும் விடாமுயற்சியும் அன்னை தெரெசாவுக்கு எங்கிருந்து வந்தது? அவர் அதனைப் பிரார்த்தனையிலும் இயேசு கிறிஸ்துவையும் அவரது இறைவார்த்தையையும், அவரின் திருஇருதயதையும் தியானிப்பதிலிருந்து பெற்றுக் கொண்டார்." என்றார். தனிப்பட்ட முறையில் அன்னை தெரேசா தனது மத நம்பிக்கைகளில் அநேக சந்தேகங்களையும் போராட்டங்களையும் கொண்டிருந்தார். இது ஏறத்தாழ ஐம்பது வருடங்கள் அவரது வாழ்க்கையின் முடிவு வரை நீடித்தது.
2003ம் ஆண்டு, அக்டோபர் மாதம், 19ம் தேதி, திருத்தந்தை இரண்டாம் ஜான் பால் அவர்கள், அன்னை தெரேசாவிற்கு அருளாளர் பட்டமளித்தார்.
2016ம் ஆண்டு, செப்டம்பர் மாதம், நான்காம் தேதி, திருத்தந்தை ஃபிரான்சிஸ் அவர்கள் அன்னை தெரெசாவை புனிதராக அருட்பொழிவு செய்வித்தார்.
Feastday: September 5
Patron: of World Youth Day
Birth: 1910
Death: 1997
Beatified: Pope John Paul II
The remarkable woman who would be known as Mother Teresa began life named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, she was the youngest child born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu. Receiving her First Communion at the age of five, she was confirmed in November 1916. Her father died while she was only eight years old leaving her family in financial straits.
Gonxha's religious formation was assisted by the vibrant Jesuit parish of the Sacred Heart in which she was very involved as a youth.
Subsequently moved to pursue missionary work, Gonxha left her home in September 1928 at the age of 18 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland. She received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux. In December of 1929, she departed for her first trip to India, arriving in Calcutta. After making her First Profession of Vows in May 1931, Sister Teresa was assigned to the Loreto Entally community in Calcutta and taught at St. Mary's School for girls.
Sister Teresa made her Final Profession of Vows, On May 24, 1937, becoming, as she said, the "spouse of Jesus" for "all eternity." From that time on she was called Mother Teresa.
She continued teaching at St. Mary's and in 1944 became the school's principal. Mother Teresa's twenty years in Loreto were filled with profound happiness. Noted for her charity, unselfishness and courage, her capacity for hard work and a natural talent for organization, she lived out her consecration to Jesus, in the midst of her companions, with fidelity and joy.
It was on September 10, 1946 during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, that Mother Teresa received her "inspiration, her call within a call." On that day, in a way she would never explain, Jesus' thirst for love and for souls took hold of her heart and the desire to satiate His thirst became the driving force of her life.
By means of interior locutions and visions, Jesus revealed to her the desire of His heart for "victims of love" who would "radiate His love on souls." "Come be My light,'"He begged her. "I cannot go alone."
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.
Nearly two years of testing and discernment passed before Mother Teresa received permission to begin. 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.
After a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the Poor. On December 21, she went for the first time to the slums. She visited families, washed the sores of some children, cared for an old man lying sick on the road and nursed a woman dying of hunger and tuberculosis. She started each day with communion then went out, rosary in her hand, to find and serve Him amongst "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for." After some months, she was joined, one by one, by her former students.
On October 7, 1950 the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. By the early 1960s, Mother Teresa began to send her Sisters to other parts of India. The Decree of Praise granted to the Congregation by Pope Paul VI in February 1965 encouraged her to open a house in Venezuela. It was soon followed by foundations in Rome and Tanzania and, eventually, on every continent. Starting in 1980 and continuing through the 1990s, Mother Teresaopened houses in almost all of the communist countries, including the former Soviet Union, Albania and Cuba.
In order to respond better to both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963, in 1976 the contemplative branch of the Sisters, in 1979 the Contemplative Brothers, and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers.
Mother Teresa's inspiration was not limited to those with religious vocations. She formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, people of many faiths and nationalities with who she shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, sacrifice and her apostolate of humble works of love.
This spirit later inspired the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests as a "little way of holiness" for those who desire to share in her charisma and spirit.
During the years of rapid growth the world began to turn its eyes towards Mother Teresa and the work she had started. Numerous awards, beginning with the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, honored her work, while an increasingly interested media began to follow her activities. She received both prizes and attention 'for the glory of God and in the name of the poor."
There was a heroic side of this great woman that was revealed only after her death. Hidden from all eyes, even from those closest to her, was her interior life marked by an experience of a deep, painful and abiding feeling of being separated from God, even rejected by Him, along with an ever increasing longing for His love. She called her inner experience, the darkness. The "painful night" of her soul, which began around the time she started her work for the poor and continued to the end of her life, led Mother Teresato 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.
In spite of increasingly severe health problems towards the end of her life, Mother Teresa continued to govern her Society and respond to the needs of the poor and the Church. By 1997, Mother Teresa's Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members and were established in 610 foundations in 123 countries of the world. In March 1997 she blessed her newly-elected successor as Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity and then made one more trip abroad. After meeting Pope John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent her final weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters.
On September 5, Mother Teresa's earthly life came to an end. She was given the honor of a state funeral by the Government of India and her body was buried in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike.
Mother Teresa left a testament of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to Jesus' plea, "Come be My light," made her a Missionary of Charity, a "mother to the poor," a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God. As a testament to her most remarkable life, Pope John Paul II permitted the opening of her Cause of Canonization. On December 20, 2002 he approved the decrees of her heroic virtues and miracles.
Mother Teresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 2003.
On the occasion of her beatification, the Missionaries of Charity issued the following statement:
"We, the Missionaries of Charity, give thanks and praise to God that our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has officially recognized the holiness of our mother, Mother Teresa, and approved the miracle obtained through her intercession. We are filled with joy in anticipation of the Beatification that will take place in Rome on Mission Sunday, 19 October 2003, the closest Sunday to the 25th anniversary of the Holy Father's Pontificate and the end of the Year of the Rosary.
"Today, after three and a half years of investigation and study, the Church confirms that Mother heroically lived the Christian life and that God has lifted her up as both a model of holiness and an intercessor for all.
"Mother is a symbol of love and compassion. When Mother was with us, we were witnesses to her shining example of all the Christian virtues. 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." For the past five years since Mother's death, people have sought her help and have experienced God's love for them through her prayers. Every day, pilgrims from India and around the world come to pray at her tomb and many more follow her example of humble service of love to the most needy, beginning in their own families.
"Mother often said, 'Holiness is not the luxury of the few, it is a simple duty for each one of us. May her example help us to strive for holiness: to love God, to respect and love every human person created by God in His own image and in whom He dwells, and to care for our poor and suffering brethren. May all the sick, the suffering, and those who seek God's help find a friend and intercessor in Mother."
Following her beatification, a long wait for a second miracle then followed. On December 17, 2015 Pope Francis announced a second miracle had been attributed to the intercession of Mother Teresa. The miracle involved a Brazilian man who was afflicted with tumors who was miraculously cured. This cleared the way for Mother Teresa's canonization.
St. Teresa of Calcutta was canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016 in a ceremony that was witnessed by tens of thousands of people, including 1,500 homeless people across Italy.
St. Teresa of Calcutta is the patron saint of World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity and a co-patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, alongside St. Francis Xavier. Her feast day is celebrated on September 5.
This article is about Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Catholic nun and saint. For other uses, see Mother Teresa (disambiguation).
Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu[6] (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒiu]; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), honoured in the Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta,[7] was an Albanian-Indian[4] Roman Catholic nun and missionary.[8] She was born in Skopje (now the capital of North Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. After living in Skopje for eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.
In 1950, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries in 2012. The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children's and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools. Members take vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, and also profess a fourth vow – to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor."[9]
Teresa received a number of honors, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day. A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work. She was praised and criticized on various counts, such as for her views on abortion and contraception, and was criticized for poor conditions in her houses for the dying. Her authorized biography was written by Navin Chawla and published in 1992, and she has been the subject of films and other books. On 6 September 2017, Teresa and St. Francis Xavier were named co-patrons of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Biography
Early life
Urban stone-and-glass building
Memorial House of Mother Teresa in her native Skopje
Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe (or Gonxha)[10][page needed] Bojaxhiu (Albanian: [aˈɲɛzə ˈɡɔndʒɛ bɔjaˈdʒiu]; Anjezë is a cognate of "Agnes"; Gonxhe means "rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian) on 26 August 1910 into a Kosovar Albanian family[11][12][13] in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (now the capital of North Macedonia).[14][15] She was baptised in Skopje, the day after her birth.[10][page needed] She later considered 27 August, the day she was baptised, her "true birthday".[14]
She was the youngest child of Nikollë and Dranafile Bojaxhiu (Bernai).[16] Her father, who was involved in Albanian-community politics in Ottoman Macedonia, died in 1919 when she was eight years old.[14][17] He was born in Prizren (today in Kosovo), however, his family was from Mirdita (present-day Albania).[18][19] Her mother may have been from a village near Gjakova.[20]
According to a biography by Joan Graff Clucas, Teresa was in her early years when she was fascinated by stories of the lives of missionaries and their service in Bengal; by age 12, she was convinced that she should commit herself to religious life.[21] Her resolve strengthened on 15 August 1928 as she prayed at the shrine of the Black Madonna of Vitina-Letnice, where she often went on pilgrimages.[22]
Teresa left home in 1928 at age 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland, to learn English with the intent of becoming a missionary; English was the language of instruction of the Sisters of Loreto in India.[23] She saw neither her mother nor her sister again.[24] Her family lived in Skopje until 1934, when they moved to Tirana.[25]
She arrived in India in 1929[26] and began her novitiate in Darjeeling, in the lower Himalayas,[27] where she learned Bengali and taught at St. Teresa's School near her convent.[28] Teresa took her first religious vows on 24 May 1931. She chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries;[29][30] because a nun in the convent had already chosen that name, she opted for its Spanish spelling (Teresa).[31]
Teresa took her solemn vows on 14 May 1937 while she was a teacher at the Loreto convent school in Entally, eastern Calcutta.[14][32][33] She served there for nearly twenty years and was appointed its headmistress in 1944.[34] Although Teresa enjoyed teaching at the school, she was increasingly disturbed by the poverty surrounding her in Calcutta.[35] The Bengal famine of 1943 brought misery and death to the city, and the August 1946 Direct Action Day began a period of Muslim-Hindu violence.[36]
During this visit to Darjeeling by train, she heard the call of her inner conscience. She felt that she should serve the poor by staying with them. She asked for and received permission to leave the school. In 1950 she founded ‘Missionaries of Charity'. She went out to serve humanity with two saris with a blue border.[37]
Missionaries of Charity
Main article: Missionaries of Charity
Three-story building with a sign and a statue
Missionaries of Charity motherhouse in Kolkata
On 10 September 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as "the call within the call" when she traveled by train to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling from Calcutta for her annual retreat. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith."[38] Joseph Langford later wrote, "Though no one knew it at the time, Sister Teresa had just become Mother Teresa".[39]
She began missionary work with the poor in 1948,[26] replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple, white cotton sari with a blue border. Teresa adopted Indian citizenship, spent several months in Patna to receive basic medical training at Holy Family Hospital and ventured into the slums.[40][41] She founded a school in Motijhil, Kolkata, before she began tending to the poor and hungry.[42] At the beginning of 1949 Teresa was joined in her effort by a group of young women, and she laid the foundation for a new religious community helping the "poorest among the poor".[43]
Her efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials, including the prime minister.[44] Teresa wrote in her diary that her first year was fraught with difficulty. With no income, she begged for food and supplies and experienced doubt, loneliness and the temptation to return to the comfort of convent life during these early months:
Our Lord wants me to be a free nun covered with the poverty of the cross. Today, I learned a good lesson. The poverty of the poor must be so hard for them. While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health. Then, the comfort of Loreto [her former congregation] came to tempt me. "You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again", the Tempter kept on saying. ... Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard. I did not let a single tear come.[45]
Four nuns in sandals and white-and-blue saris
Missionaries of Charity in traditional saris
On 7 October 1950, Teresa received Vatican permission for the diocesan congregation, which would become the Missionaries of Charity.[46] In her words, it would care for "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".[47]
In 1952, Teresa opened her first hospice with help from Calcutta officials. She converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat Home for the Dying, free for the poor, and renamed it Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday).[48] Those brought to the home received medical attention and the opportunity to die with dignity in accordance with their faith: Muslims were read the Quran, Hindus received water from the Ganges, and Catholics received extreme unction.[49] "A beautiful death", Teresa said, "is for people who lived like animals to die like angels—loved and wanted."[49]
White, older building
Nirmal Hriday, Mother Teresa's Calcutta hospice, in 2007
She opened a hospice for those with leprosy, calling it Shanti Nagar (City of Peace).[50] The Missionaries of Charity established leprosy-outreach clinics throughout Calcutta, providing medication, dressings and food.[51] The Missionaries of Charity took in an increasing number of homeless children; in 1955 Teresa opened Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children's Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth.[52]
The congregation began to attract recruits and donations, and by the 1960s it had opened hospices, orphanages and leper houses throughout India. Teresa then expanded the congregation abroad, opening a house in Venezuela in 1965 with five sisters.[53] Houses followed in Italy (Rome), Tanzania and Austria in 1968, and during the 1970s the congregation opened houses and foundations in the United States and dozens of countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.[54]
The Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics were enrolled in the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity. Responding to requests by many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa founded the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests[55] and with Joseph Langford the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 1984, to combine the vocational aims of the Missionaries of Charity with the resources of the priesthood.[56]
By 1997, the 13-member Calcutta congregation had grown to more than 4,000 sisters who managed orphanages, AIDS hospices and charity centers worldwide, caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless and victims of floods, epidemics and famine.[57] By 2007, the Missionaries of Charity numbered about 450 brothers and 5,000 sisters worldwide, operating 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries.[58]
International charity
Teresa said, "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."[4] Fluent in five languages – Bengali,[59] Albanian, Serbian, English and Hindi – she made occasional trips outside India for humanitarian reasons.[60]
At the height of the Siege of Beirut in 1982, Teresa rescued 37 children trapped in a front-line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas.[61] Accompanied by Red Cross workers, she travelled through the war zone to the hospital to evacuate the young patients.[62]
When Eastern Europe experienced increased openness in the late 1980s, Teresa expanded her efforts to Communist countries which had rejected the Missionaries of Charity. She began dozens of projects, undeterred by criticism of her stands against abortion and divorce: "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work." She visited Armenia after the 1988 earthquake[63] and met with Nikolai Ryzhkov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers.[64]
Teresa travelled to assist the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl and earthquake victims in Armenia.[65][66][67] In 1991 she returned to Albania for the first time, opening a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana.[68]
By 1996, Teresa operated 517 missions in over 100 countries.[69] Her Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands, serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centres worldwide. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United States was established in the South Bronx area of New York City, and by 1984 the congregation operated 19 establishments throughout the country.[70]
Declining health and death
Teresa had a heart attack in Rome in 1983 while she was visiting Pope John Paul II. Following a second attack in 1989, she received an artificial pacemaker. In 1991, after a bout of pneumonia in Mexico, she had additional heart problems. Although Teresa offered to resign as head of the Missionaries of Charity, in a secret ballot the sisters of the congregation voted for her to stay and she agreed to continue.[71]
In April 1996 she fell, breaking her collarbone, and four months later she had malaria and heart failure. Although Teresa had heart surgery, her health was clearly declining. According to Archbishop of Calcutta Henry Sebastian D'Souza, he ordered a priest to perform an exorcism (with her permission) when she was first hospitalized with cardiac problems because he thought she might be under attack by the devil.[72]
On 13 March 1997 Teresa resigned as head of the Missionaries of Charity, and she died on 5 September.[73] At the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters and an associated brotherhood of 300 members operating 610 missions in 123 countries.[74] These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's-and family-counselling programmes, orphanages and schools. The Missionaries of Charity were aided by co-workers numbering over one million by the 1990s.[75]
Teresa lay in repose in an open casket in St Thomas, Calcutta, for a week before her funeral. She received a state funeral from the Indian government in gratitude for her service to the poor of all religions in the country.[76] Assisted by five priests, Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, the Pope's representative, performed the last rites.[77] Teresa's death was mourned in the secular and religious communities. Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif called her "a rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes. Her life-long devotion to the care of the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged was one of the highest examples of service to our humanity."[78] According to former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, "She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world."[78]
Recognition and reception
India
Teresa was first recognised by the Indian government more than a third of a century earlier, receiving the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969.[79] She later received other Indian awards, including the Bharat Ratna (India's highest civilian award) in 1980.[80] Teresa's official biography, by Navin Chawla, was published in 1992.[81] In Kolkata, she is worshipped as a deity by some Hindus.[82]
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth, the government of India issued a special ₹5 coin (the amount of money Teresa had when she arrived in India) on 28 August 2010. President Pratibha Patil said, "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."[83]
Indian views of Teresa are not uniformly favorable. Aroup Chatterjee, a physician born and raised in Calcutta who was an activist in the city's slums for years around 1980 before moving to the UK, said that he "never even saw any nuns in those slums".[84] His research, involving more than 100 interviews with volunteers, nuns and others familiar with the Missionaries of Charity, was described in a 2003 book critical of Teresa.[84] Chatterjee criticized her for promoting a "cult of suffering" and a distorted, negative image of Calcutta, exaggerating work done by her mission and misusing funds and privileges at her disposal.[84][85] According to him, some of the hygiene problems he had criticized (needle reuse, for example) improved after Teresa's death in 1997.[84]
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, mayor of Kolkata from 2005 to 2010, said that "she had no significant impact on the poor of this city", glorified illness instead of treating it and misrepresented the city: "No doubt there was poverty in Calcutta, but it was never a city of lepers and beggars, as Mother Teresa presented it."[86] On the Hindu right, the Bharatiya Janata Party clashed with Teresa over the Christian Dalits but praised her in death and sent a representative to her funeral.[87] Vishwa Hindu Parishad, however, opposed the government decision to grant her a state funeral. Secretary Giriraj Kishore said that "her first duty was to the Church and social service was incidental", accusing her of favoring Christians and conducting "secret baptisms" of the dying.[88][89] In a front-page tribute, the Indian fortnightly Frontline dismissed the charges as "patently false" and said that they had "made no impact on the public perception of her work, especially in Calcutta". Praising her "selfless caring", energy and bravery, the author of the tribute criticized Teresa's public campaign against abortion and her claim to be non-political.[90]
In February 2015 Mohan Bhagwat, leader of the Hindu right-wing organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said that Teresa's objective was "to convert the person, who was being served, into a Christian".[91] Former RSS spokesperson M. G. Vaidhya supported Bhagwat's assessment, and the organization accused the media of "distorting facts about Bhagwat's remarks". Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien, CPI leader Atul Anjan and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal protested Bhagwat's statement.[92]
Elsewhere
President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan with Mother Teresa, standing at a microphone
President Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony as First Lady Nancy Reagan looks on, 20 June 1985.
Teresa received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia, in 1962. According to its citation, "The Board of Trustees recognises her merciful cognisance of the abject poor of a foreign land, in whose service she has led a new congregation".[93] By the early 1970s, she was an international celebrity. Teresa's fame may be partially attributed to Malcolm Muggeridge's 1969 documentary, Something Beautiful for God, and his 1971 book of the same name. Muggeridge was undergoing a spiritual journey of his own at the time.[94] During filming, footage shot in poor lighting (particularly at the Home for the Dying) was thought unlikely to be usable by the crew. In England, the footage was found to be extremely well-lit and Muggeridge called it a miracle of "divine light" from Teresa.[95] Other crew members said that it was due to a new type of ultra-sensitive Kodak film.[96] Muggeridge later converted to Catholicism.[97]
Around this time, the Catholic world began to honour Teresa publicly. Pope Paul VI gave her the inaugural Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, commending her work with the poor, display of Christian charity and efforts for peace,[98] and she received the Pacem in Terris Award in 1976.[99] After her death, Teresa progressed rapidly on the road to sainthood.
Mother Teresa with Michèle Duvalier in January 1981.
She was honoured by governments and civilian organisations, and appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1982 "for service to the community of Australia and humanity at large".[100] The United Kingdom and the United States bestowed a number of awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983 and honorary citizenship of the United States on 16 November 1996.[101] Teresa's Albanian homeland gave her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994,[90] but her acceptance of this and the Haitian Legion of Honour was controversial. Teresa was criticised for implicitly supporting the Duvaliers and corrupt businessmen such as Charles Keating and Robert Maxwell; she wrote to the judge of Keating's trial, requesting clemency.[90][102]
Universities in India and the West granted her honorary degrees.[90] Other civilian awards included the Balzan Prize for promoting humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples (1978)[103] and the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975).[104] In April 1976 Teresa visited the University of Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania, where she received the La Storta Medal for Human Service from university president William J. Byron.[105] She challenged an audience of 4,500 to "know poor people in your own home and local neighbourhood", feeding others or simply spreading joy and love,[106] and continued: "The poor will help us grow in sanctity, for they are Christ in the guise of distress".[105] In August 1987 Teresa received an honorary doctor of social science degree, in recognition of her service and her ministry to help the destitute and sick, from the university.[107] She spoke to over 4,000 students and members of the Diocese of Scranton[108] about her service to the "poorest of the poor", telling them to "do small things with great love".[109]
During her lifetime, Teresa was among the top 10 women in the annual Gallup's most admired man and woman poll 18 times, finishing first several times in the 1980s and 1990s.[110] In 1999 she headed Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century,[111] out-polling all other volunteered answers by a wide margin, and was first in all major demographic categories except the very young.[111][112]
Nobel Peace Prize
In 1979, Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace".[113] She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet for laureates, asking that its $192,000 cost be given to the poor in India[114] and saying that earthly rewards were important only if they helped her to help the world's needy. When Teresa received the prize she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered, "Go home and love your family." Building on this theme in her Nobel lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society – that poverty is so hurtable [sic] and so much, and I find that very difficult."
Social and political views
Teresa singled out abortion as "the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child – what is left for me to kill you and you kill me – there is nothing between."[115]
Barbara Smoker of the secular humanist magazine The Freethinker criticised Teresa after the Peace Prize award, saying that her promotion of Catholic moral teachings on abortion and contraception diverted funds from effective methods to solve India's problems.[116] At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Teresa said: "Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving."
Criticism
Main article: Criticism of Mother Teresa
According to a paper by Canadian academics Serge Larivée, Geneviève Chénard and Carole Sénéchal, Teresa's clinics received millions of dollars in donations but lacked medical care, systematic diagnosis, necessary nutrition and sufficient analgesics for those in pain;[118] in the opinion of the three academics, "Mother Teresa believed the sick must suffer like Christ on the cross".[119] It was said that the additional money might have transformed the health of the city's poor by creating advanced palliative care facilities.[120][121]
One of Teresa's most outspoken critics was English journalist, literary critic and antitheist Christopher Hitchens, host of the documentary Hell's Angel (1994) and author of the essay The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (1995) who wrote in a 2003 article: "This returns us to the medieval corruption of the church, which sold indulgences to the rich while preaching hellfire and continence to the poor. [Mother Teresa] was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God. She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty, which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction."[122] He accused her of hypocrisy for choosing advanced treatment for her heart condition.[123][124] Hitchens said that "her intention was not to help people", and that she lied to donors about how their contributions were used. "It was by talking to her that I discovered, and she assured me, that she wasn't working to alleviate poverty", he said, "She was working to expand the number of Catholics. She said, 'I'm not a social worker. I don't do it for this reason. I do it for Christ. I do it for the church.'"[125] Although Hitchens thought he was the only witness called by the Vatican, Aroup Chatterjee (author of Mother Teresa: The Untold Story) was also called to present evidence opposing Teresa's beatification and canonisation;[126] the Vatican had abolished the traditional "devil's advocate", which served a similar purpose.[126]
Abortion-rights groups have also criticised Teresa's stance against abortion and contraception.
Spiritual life
Analysing her deeds and achievements, Pope John Paul II said: "Where did Mother Teresa find the strength and perseverance to place herself completely at the service of others? She found it in prayer and in the silent contemplation of Jesus Christ, his Holy Face, his Sacred Heart."[130] Privately, Teresa experienced doubts and struggle in her religious beliefs which lasted nearly 50 years until the end of her life.[131] Teresa expressed grave doubts about God's existence and pain over her lack of faith:
Where is my faith? Even deep down ... there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. ... If there be God – please forgive me. When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul.[132]
Outdoor bas-relief plaque
Plaque dedicated to Mother Teresa in Wenceslas Square, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Other saints (including Teresa's namesake Thérèse of Lisieux, who called it a "night of nothingness") had similar experiences of spiritual dryness.[133] According to James Langford, these doubts were typical and would not be an impediment to canonisation.[133]
After ten years of doubt, Teresa described a brief period of renewed faith. After Pope Pius XII's death in 1958, she was praying for him at a requiem mass when she was relieved of "the long darkness: that strange suffering." However, five weeks later her spiritual dryness returned.[134]
Teresa wrote many letters to her confessors and superiors over a 66-year period, most notably to Calcutta Archbishop Ferdinand Perier and Jesuit priest Celeste van Exem (her spiritual advisor since the formation of the Missionaries of Charity).[135] She requested that her letters be destroyed, concerned that "people will think more of me – less of Jesus."[94][136]
Semi-abstract painting honoring Mother Teresa
However, the correspondence has been compiled in Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light.[94][137] Teresa wrote to spiritual confidant Michael van der Peet, "Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see – listen and do not hear – the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak. ... I want you to pray for me – that I let Him have [a] free hand."
In Deus caritas est (his first encyclical), Pope Benedict XVI mentioned Teresa three times and used her life to clarify one of the encyclical's main points: "In the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta we have a clear illustration of the fact that time devoted to God in prayer not only does not detract from effective and loving service to our neighbour but is in fact the inexhaustible source of that service."[138] She wrote, "It is only by mental prayer and spiritual reading that we can cultivate the gift of prayer."[139]
Although her order was not connected with the Franciscan orders, Teresa admired Francis of Assisi[140] and was influenced by Franciscan spirituality. The Sisters of Charity recite the prayer of Saint Francis every morning at Mass during the thanksgiving after Communion, and their emphasis on ministry and many of their vows are similar.[140] Francis emphasised poverty, chastity, obedience and submission to Christ. He devoted much of his life to serving the poor, particularly lepers.[141]
Canonisation
Miracle and beatification
After Teresa's death in 1997, the Holy See began the process of beatification (the second of three steps towards canonisation) and Kolodiejchuk was appointed postulator by the Diocese of Calcutta. Although he said, "We didn't have to prove that she was perfect or never made a mistake ...", he had to prove that Teresa's virtue was heroic. Kolodiejchuk submitted 76 documents, totalling 35,000 pages, which were based on interviews with 113 witnesses who were asked to answer 263 questions.[142]
Stained glass depiction of key moments in the lifetime of Mother Teresa at the Cathedral of Saint Mother Teresa in Prishtinë, Kosovo
The process of canonisation requires the documentation of a miracle resulting from the intercession of the prospective saint.[143] In 2002 the Vatican recognised as a miracle the healing of a tumour in the abdomen of Monica Besra, an Indian woman, after the application of a locket containing Teresa's picture. According to Besra, a beam of light emanated from the picture and her cancerous tumour was cured; however, her husband and some of her medical staff said that conventional medical treatment eradicated the tumour.[144] Ranjan Mustafi, who told The New York Times he had treated Besra, said that the cyst was caused by tuberculosis: "It was not a miracle ... She took medicines for nine months to one year."[145] According to Besra's husband, "My wife was cured by the doctors and not by any miracle ... This miracle is a hoax."[146] Besra said that her medical records, including sonograms, prescriptions and physicians' notes, were confiscated by Sister Betta of the Missionaries of Charity. According to Time, calls to Sister Betta and the office of Sister Nirmala (Teresa's successor as head of the order) elicited no comment. Officials at Balurghat Hospital, where Besra sought medical treatment, said that they were pressured by the order to call her cure miraculous.[146] In February 2000, former West Bengal health minister Partho De ordered a review of Besra's medical records at the Department of Health in Kolkata. According to De, there was nothing unusual about her illness and cure based on her lengthy treatment. He said that he had refused to give the Vatican the name of a doctor who would certify that Monica Besra's healing was a miracle.[147]
During Teresa's beatification and canonisation, the Roman Curia (the Vatican) studied published and unpublished criticism of her life and work. Hitchens and Chatterjee (author of The Final Verdict, a book critical of Teresa) spoke to the tribunal; according to Vatican officials, the allegations raised were investigated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.[142] The group found no obstacle to Teresa's canonisation, and issued its nihil obstat on 21 April 1999.[148][149] Because of the attacks on her, some Catholic writers called her a sign of contradiction.[150] Teresa was beatified on 19 October 2003, and was known by Catholics as "Blessed".[151]
Canonisation
On 17 December 2015, the Vatican Press Office confirmed that Pope Francis recognised a second miracle attributed to Teresa: the healing of a Brazilian man with multiple brain tumours back in 2008.[152] The miracle first came to the attention of the postulation (officials managing the cause) during the events of World Youth Day 2013 when the pope was in Brazil that July. A subsequent investigation took place in Brazil from 19–26 June 2015 which was later transferred to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints who issued a decree recognizing the investigation to be completed.[152]
Francis canonised her at a ceremony on 4 September 2016 in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of people witnessed the ceremony, including 15 government delegations and 1,500 homeless people from across Italy.[153][154] It was televised live on the Vatican channel and streamed online; Skopje, Teresa's hometown, announced a week-long celebration of her canonisation.[153] In India, a special Mass was celebrated by the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.[154]
Blessed Maria Velotti
Also known as
• Maria Luigia of the Blessed Sacrament
• Mariella (childhood nickname)
Profile
Born to Francesco Velotti and Teresa Napoletano, Maria was baptised on the day she was born, but was orphaned before the age of three. She was raised by an aunt named Caterina who was virulently opposed to Maria’s piety and call to religious life. Maria became a Franciscan tertiary, taking the name Maria Luigia of the Blessed Sacrament. With Eletta Albini, she founded the Franciscan Sisters Adorers of the Holy Cross.
Born
16 November 1826 in Soccavo, Naples, Italy
Died
• at 9am on 3 September 1886 at the Franciscan Sisters Adorers of the Holy Cross at Via Nuova Padre Ludovico 28, Casoria, Naples, Italy of natural causes after a long and debilitating illness
• buried in the local cemetery in Casoria
• re-interred in a chapel at the mother-house of the Franciscan Sisters Adorers of the Holy Cross in Casoria on 26 December 1926
Beatified
• 26 September 2020 by Pope Francis
• beatification recognition celebrated in the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, Naples, Italy, with Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe as chief celebrant
Saint Bertin the Great
புனித பெர்டின்
St. Bertin
நினைவுத் திருநாள் : செப்டம்பர் 5
பிறப்பு : 615, கோடான்ஸ் (Coutances), பிரான்சு
இறப்பு : 709
பெர்டின் தனது இளம் வயதிலேயே பிரான்சு நாட்டிலுள்ள லக்ஸ்யூல் (Lexeuil) என்ற பெயர் கொண்ட துறவற மடத்திற்குஸ் சென்றார். இச்சபை புனித கெலம்பானூஸ் என்பவர் தயாரித்த சட்டதிட்டங்களை சபையின் ஒழுங்காகக் கொண்டு செயல்பட்டது. பெர்ட்டின் கொலம்பானூசின் உறவினர். 638 ஆம் ஆண்டு மோரினி (Morini) என்றழைக்கப்ட்டவர், இச்சபையின் முதல் துறவியாவர். இச்சபை வளர்வதற்கு, பிரான்சிஸ் ஆயராக இருந்த புனித ஓமர் என்பவர் மிகப்பெரிய அளவில் எல்லாவிதங்களிலும் உதவியானார்.
ஆயர் ஓமர் (Omer) தனது மறைமாவட்டத்திற்கு சொந்தமான, பாழடைந்த ஒரு நிலத்தைக் கொடுத்தார். அந்நிலம் காடு போன்று காணப்பட்டது. விஷப்பூச்சிகளும், கடற்பாசிகளும் நிறைந்திருந்தது. அந்நிலத்தைப் பரிசாகப் பெற்ற அத்துறவற சபையினர் நிலத்தை தூய்மைப்படுத்தி, பல குடும்பங்களை வாழ செய்தனர்.
இச்சபையினர் ஊர் ஊராக சென்று நற்செய்திப் பணியை ஆற்றினர். ஒரு சிறிய குடிசையில் வாழ்ந்த இத்துறவிகள் சில ஆண்டுகள் கழித்து பெரிய துறவற இல்லம் ஒன்றை கட்டினர். இதற்காக பெர்ட்டின் தன்னையே வருத்தி, கடினமாக உழைத்தார். இவரின் உழைப்பால் குறுகிய காலத்தில் 150 துறவிகள் இச்சபைக்கு வந்து சேர்ந்தனர். இவர் கிராமங்களுக்கு சென்று பணியாற்றினார். சிறுவர்களை ஒன்று சேர்த்து கல்வி கற்பித்தார். பல குடும்பங்களில் கல்வியை அறிமுகப்படுத்தினார்.
பெர்ட்டின் ஏழை மக்களின் மத்தியில் சிறப்பான பணியை ஆற்றினார். இவர் வாழும் போதே மக்களால் ஒரு புனிதராக போற்றப்பட்டார். இவர் தன்னுடன் இருந்த மற்ற துறவிகளுக்கும், ஒரு தாயாக இருந்தார். இவர் மட்டுமே தனது சொந்த உழைப்பால், மேலும் இரண்டு துறவற இல்லங்களை கட்டினார். அனைத்து இல்லங்களிலும், குழந்தைகள் கற்க ஏற்பாடு செய்தார்.
ஏழை குடும்பங்களில், வளமான வாழ்வை ஏற்படுத்திக் கொடுத்த இவர், ஒருநாள் குடும்பங்களை சந்திக்க சென்றபோது உடல் நலம் குன்றிபோனது. அன்றிலிருந்து உடல் நலக் குறைவால் அவதிப்பட்டு இறந்தார்.
Also known as
Bertinus
Profile
Educated at the Abbey of Luxeuil, France known for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Columban, a Rule known for its austerity. Though he was not a novice, Bertin felt called to follow the Rule with the monks at the abbey; when grown, he took the cowl. In 639, Bertin and two other monks, Mommelinus and Ebertram, joined Saint Omer in evangelizing the people in Pas-de-Calais, a region renowned for idolatry and immorality. The evangelists had no great success, but they built a monastery in honor of Saint Mommolin. Bertin served as its first abbot, a calling that lasted the remaining 60 years of his life. He sent monks to found other monasteries in both France and England, and he travelled constantly to teach and evangelize. His monastery served as an example to the locals, and brought many to the faith; 22 of its monks have been canonized. During a life that spanned nearly a century, Bertin was known for holiness and severe self-imposed austerities. On his death, the monastery was re-dedicated to him.
Born
early 7th century at Constance (in modern Germany)
Died
c.709 of natural causes
Saint Albert of Butrio
Also known as
Alberto di Butrio
Profile
Born to a regionally important family. Hermit in Butrio (modern Palazzuolo) near the Borrione River Valley in the diocese of Tortona, Italy in 1030. When he miraculously mute son of the Marquis of Casaco, the Marquis built a Romanesque church where Albert and his brother hermits could assemble for the Divine Office. Albert became a Benedictine monk, and the church served as the core of the Benedictine Cluniac monastery he formed at Butrio; he served the rest of his life as as its first abbot.
Died
1073 in Tortuna, Liguria, Italy of natural causes
Blessed Florent Dumontet de Cardaillac
Also known as
Fiorenzo Dumontet de Cardaillac
Profile
Priest in the diocese of Castres, France. Imprisoned for his faith on a prison ship during the persecutions of the French Revolution, he ministered to other prisoners and cared for the sick until his own health broke. Martyr.
Born
8 February 1749 in Saint-Médard, Haute-Vienne, France
Died
5 September 1794 aboard the prison ship Deux-Associés, in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, France
Beatified
1 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Giuse Hoàng Luong Canh
Also known as
• Joseph Canh
• Joseph Canh Luang Hoang
Additional Memorial
24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam
Profile
Lifelong layman in the apostolic vicariate of East Tonkin. Physician. Catechist and Dominican tertiary. One of the Martyrs of Vietnam.
Born
c.1763 in Làng Van, Bac Giang, Vietnam
Died
beheaded on 5 September 1838 in Bac Ninh Tai, Vietnam
Canonized
19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Blessed William Browne
Profile
Layman servant in the house of nobleman Thomas Darcy. Known for his love of the Faith and the Church, he refused to acknowledge the king as head of Christianity in England, refused to attend Protestant services, and continued to encourage people to join and support Catholicism. For this he was imprisoned, tortured, prosecuted to treason, and executed. Martyr.
Born
Northampton, Northamptonshire, England
Died
hanged, drawn and quartered on 5 September 1605 at Ripon, North Yorkshire, England
Beatified
15 December 1929 by Pope Pius XI
Blessed Gerbrand of Dokkum
Profile
Premonstratensian monk. Canon of the Premonstratensian monastery in Dokkum, Friesland (in the modern Netherlands. Chosen 4th abbot of the house. Friend of and correspondent with King Louis IX of France. Championed and preached support and participation in the Crusades in Friesland. Died while attending the Premonstratensian general chapter.
Born
early 13th century in area of the modern Netherlands
Died
11 October 1267 at the Premontres mother-house in Laon, France of natural causes
Blessed Gentilis of Toringa
Profile
Born to the Italian nobility. Franciscan Friar Minor. Missionary to the Muslims in Egypt, Persia and Armenia. Martyr.
Born
at Matelica, Italy
Died
• beheaded on 1340 at Toringa (Tauris), Persia
• relics enshrined in the Church of the Frati, Venice, Italy
Beatified
2 February 1795 by Pope Pius VI
Saint Phêrô Nguyen Van Tu
Additional Memorial
24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam
Profile
Dominican priest. Martyr.
Born
c.1796 in Ninh Cuong, Nam Ðinh, Vietnam
Died
5 September 1838 in Bac Ninh Tai, Vietnam
Canonized
19 June 1988 by Pope John Paul II
Saint Anseric of Soissons
Also known as
Ansaricus, Ansericus
Profile
Raised in a pious Christian family. Bishop of Soissons (in modern France) in the mid-7th century. Attended the Council of Rheims. Built the church that houses the relics of Saint Crispin and Saint Crispian.
Born
Espagny, Soissons, Gaul (in modern France)
Died
c.652
Blessed John the Good of Siponto
Profile
12th century monk. Spiritual student of Blessed John of Matera, and of Blessed Jordan of Pulsano. Founded the monastery of San Michele on the island of Mont Gargano at Mljet dálmata, Dalmatia (in modern Croatia), and served as its first abbot.
Born
Siponto, Italy
Blessed Jordan of Pulsano
Profile
Benedictine monk at Pulsano, Italy. Spiritual student of Saint John of Pulsano. Abbot-general of Pulsano from 1139 to 1152.
Died
1152 of natural causes
Saint Alvitus of León
Profile
Related to Saint Rudesind. Benedictine monk at Sahagun, Spain. Bishop of León, Spain in 1057. Transferred the relics of Saint Isidore from Seville, Spain to León.
Died
1063
Saint Genebald of Laon
Profile
Relative of Saint Remigius of Rheims. Bishop of Laon, France. For some unnamed fault he committed, he sentenced himself to seven years of continuous penance.
Died
c.555 of natural causes
Saint Victorinus of Amiterme
Profile
Sixth-century bishop of Amiterme, Italy (outskirts of Rome). Martyr.
Died
hanged upside down near Rome, Italy; he lasted three days
Blessed Anselm of Anchin
Profile
Monk. Abbot of the monastery of Anchin.
Died
• c.1088 of natural causes
• miraculous healings reported at his tomb
Saint Victorinus of Como
Profile
Bishop of Como, Italy. Fought Arianism.
Died
644 of natural causes
Saint Obdulia
Profile
Nun. Her story has been lost.
Died
relics venerated at Toledo, Spain
Saint Charbel
Profile
Martyred in the persecutions of Trajan.
Died
107
Martyrs of Armenia
Profile
A group of up to 1,000 Christian soldiers in the 2nd century imperial Roman army of Trajan, stationed in Gaul. Ordered to sacrifice to pagan gods, they refused and were transferred to Armenia. Ordered again to sacrifice to pagan gods, they refused again. Martyrs. We know the names of three of them, but nothing else - Eudoxius, Macarius and Zeno.
Martyrs of Capua
Profile
Three Christians who were martyred together. Long venerated in Capua, Italy. We know their names, but little else - Arcontius, Donatus and Quintius.
Died
Capua, Italy
Martyrs of Nicomedia
Profile
A group of 80 Christians, lay and clergy, martyred together in the persecutions of Valens. We know little more than the names of three of them - Menedemo, Teodoro and Urbano.
Died
locked on a boat which was then set on fire on the shore of Nicomedia, Bithynia (in modern Turkey) c.370
Martyrs of Porto Romano
Profile
A group of Christians martyred together in the persecutions of Marcus Aurelius. We know little more than their names - Aconto, Herculanus, Nonno and Taurino.
Died
c.180 at Porto Romano, Italy
