Mother Teresa

A Presentation by

Rita Denise Crasta

"Radiating Christ" (The Daily Prayer of St. 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 may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a 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 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.

"In Mother Teresa's smile, words and deeds, Jesus

again walked the streets of the world as the Good

Samaritan.“

-Pope St. John Paul II Saturday, 5 September 1998

Born: Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje (present day Macedonia). Youngest of the children of Nikollë and Dranafile Bojaxhiu (Bernai) Baptized: on August 27, 1910 First Communion: in 1915, at the age of five and a half Confirmation: in November 1916

"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."

EARLY YEARS

First Profession: as Sister Teresa (after her patroness St. Thérèse of Lisieux) on May 25, 1931 Final Profession: May 24, 1937, and henceforth to be known as Mother Teresa (following Loreto custom at the time) Inspiration Day: September 10, 1946 on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling. Mother Teresa received the "call within a call," which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family

"I knew that if the work were mine it would die with me.

But I knew it was His work, that it will live and bring

much good."

RELIGIOUS LIFE

Founded MC: October 7, 1950 the congregation (religious institute) of the Missionaries of Charity Sisters was officially erected for the Archdiocese of Calcutta Pontifical recognition: given to the sisters in 1965 whereby the congregation came directly under the authority of the Holy See.

"The first ten girls who came were all students that I had

taught in the school. One by one, they surrendered themselves to God to serve the poorest of the poor. They wanted to give their

all to God."

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY

Missionaries of Charity Brothers: founded March 25, 1963 Missionaries of Charity Contemplative Sisters: founded June 25, 1976 Missionaries of Charity Contemplative Brothers: founded March 19, 1979 Missionaries of Charity Fathers: founded October 31, 1984

"We are not social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of some people, but we must be contemplatives in

the heart of the world."

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY FAMILY

Co-workers: founded March 29, 1969 Sick and Suffering Co-workers: began January 13, 1953 Lay Missionaries of Charity: founded April 13, 1987 (by the MC Contemplative Brothers) Corpus Christi Movement: founded June 26, 1981

Yes, you must live life beautifully and not allow the spirit of the world that makes gods out of power, riches, and pleasure make you forget that

you have been created for greater things — to love and to be loved.

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY FAMILY

Among the 124 Awards Received: Padmashree Award (from the President of India) - August 1962

Pope John XXIII Peace Prize - January 1971

John F. Kennedy International Award - September 1971

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding - November 1972

Templeton Prize for "Progress in Religion" - April 1973

Nobel Peace Prize - December 1979

Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) - March 1980

Order of Merit (from Queen Elizabeth) - November 1983

Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee - August 1987

United States Congressional Gold Medal - June 1997

“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.”

AWARDS

“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.”

Died: on September 5, 1997 in Kolkata (Calcutta), India State funeral: September 13, 1997 Mother Teresa was given a state funeral, her body being taken in procession on a gun carriage that had also borne the bodies of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru through the streets of Calcutta. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present from all over the world.

"Holiness is not the luxury of the few; it is a simple

duty, for you and for me. Be only all for Jesus through

Mary. Be holy."

DEATH

Beatified: on Mission Sunday, October 19, 2003. His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, beatified Mother Teresa in front of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. Feast of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: September 5

"From Jesus in the Eucharist we learn how much God

thirsts to love us and how He thirsts for our love and for the

love of souls in return."

BEATIFICATION

The canonization will be held on 4 September 2016 in Rome during the Sunday Mass celebrated as part of the Jubilee for workers and volunteers of mercy.

"I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus,

'Love one another as I have loved you.’ Ask yourself ‘How has he loved me? Do I really

love others in the same way?'"

CANONIZATION

The Crastas with Mother Teresa in Yemen

MY STORY

"What I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot.

But together we can do something beautiful for God."

Texts: Mother Teresa of Calcutta Center website: http://www.motherteresa.org/ © Missionaries of Charity Blessed Teresa of Calcutta minister: http://www.ewtn.com/motherteresa/ © EWTN The Holy See website: http://www.vatican.va/ © Liberia Editrice Vaticana

Graphics: Blue Sari Border Design Adapted by Austine Crasta Official Canonization Logo Designed by Karen nee D'Lima Vaswani, Mumbai Pope Graphic http://www.pixabay.com; Public Domain

CREDITS

Presenter

Rita Denise Crasta

Editing and Design

Austine Crasta