Saint of the day, September 5

September 5 - St. Teresa of Calcutta

Born: August 26, 1910
Died: September 5, 1997
Nationality: Albanian
Vocation: Religious
Attributes: Blue and white habit
Patronage: World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity, Archdiocese of Calcutta
Canonization: 2016 by Pope Francis

St. Teresa of Calcutta gave her life to loving Jesus in the poorest and most forgotten, finding in each person an opportunity to love and serve him.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to a devout Albanian Catholic family, Teresa felt drawn to missionary life from a young age. At 17, she entered the Sisters of Loreto and was eventually sent to Calcutta, where she spent years teaching at a girls’ school.

Her life changed during a train journey in 1946, when she received what she later called a “call within a call” — an invitation from Christ to leave the convent and serve him among the poor. With permission from the Church, Teresa entered the slums of Calcutta, where she taught children and cared for the sick and dying. Before long, some of her former students joined her.

In 1950, the Missionaries of Charity were established, beginning a ministry that would eventually reach far beyond Calcutta. Mother Teresa became known throughout the world for caring for people others had forgotten, from the dying and abandoned to orphans and the unborn.

Yet her joyful service was accompanied by a deeply personal cross. For decades, Mother Teresa experienced profound spiritual darkness and an absence of the consolation she once felt in prayer. Still, she continued to love Christ, pray, and serve those before her.

Her life shows that love for God is not measured only by what we feel, but by how faithfully we choose to love. Mother Teresa sought Jesus in the people who needed her most, offering him the small acts of love that filled her days. As she once said, “This is the meaning of true love, to give until it hurts.”

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!

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