Sister Mary Prema Pierick, MC, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity. She is the third Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, following the founder, Mother Teresa and Sister Nirmala;
Father Brian Kilodiejchuk, MC, Superior General of the Missionary Fathers of Charity and Postulator for the Cause of Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta;
Marcílio Haddad Andrino, from Brazil, the beneficiary of a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Mother Teresa, accompanied by his wife Fernanda Nascimento Rocha; and
Stefano D'Agostini, Director of the Vatican Television Centre.
Coming events
On Saturday, 3 September, at 10:30am, the Jubilee Audience in Saint Peter's Square, including a catechesis by the Holy Father concerning volunteerism and the Works of Mercy.
On Sunday, 4 September, beginning at 10:30am in Saint Peter's Square, the Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, including the Rite of Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Booklet for the Mass
On Monday, 5 September, the Feast of Saint Teresa of Calcutta will be celebrated for the very first time. At 10:00am, the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin will preside at the celebration of Mass in Saint Peter's Square.
Further information
On the occasion of the Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Secretariat for Communications will implement, in cooperation with MC360PHOTO, the project entitled I was there, a very high resolution panoramic shot of St. Peter's Square that from the general view of the entire square full of faithful, will allow to zoom in on the face of each participant.
It will be active on the day after the ceremony, and available by visiting the website www.motherteresasaint.com
Presentation prepared by Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, MC
Postulator for the Cause of Canonization
of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Lessons from Mother Teresa
She's the perfect Saint for the Year of Mercy
Mother Teresa was so aware of her need for mercy before God. She was very much at home with her own poverty.
The Year of Mercy is first of all a reminder to all of us that before God we all stand in need of mercy; so in this we are all poor; we stand as beggars in need of his love, of his forgiveness – of his mercy.
This is Mother Teresa's message: Calcutta is everywhere
Like Mother Teresa, we can call this reality of our interior poverty the Calcutta of the heart, and indeed, the Calcutta of my own heart! Mother Teresa used to say: Calcutta is everywhere.
Forgive and (truly) forget
She was always ready to show mercy and forgiveness to others.
We need lots of love to forgive and we need lots of humility to forget, because it is not complete forgiveness unless we forget also. And not forgetting, very often we say we have forgiven but we cannot forget. And as long as we cannot forget, we really have not forgiven fully.
Regular confession
For Mother Teresa it was not a matter of habit or routine, but of meeting the mercy and love of God each time anew.
God's love for sinners
The devil hates God. And that hatred in action is destroying us. Making us commit sin, making us share in that evil. … So that we too share in that hatred and [this] cuts us off from God. But there is where the wonderful mercy of God comes. … And this is what the devil hates in God, that tenderness and love of God for the sinner.
Dark night
Among other things that it means, this also explains why Mother Teresa had such a great capacity for mercy. The experience of darkness compelled her to depend continuously on the mercy of the Lord, and therefore to be always ready to show mercy to others.
Mother Teresa said yes to the darkness, which was a terrible way to suffer for someone who loved God so deeply
I have come to love the darkness – for I believe now that it is a part a very, very small part of Jesus darkness & pain on earth. (You have taught me to accept it as a 'spiritual side of ‘your work’ as you wrote -) Today really I felt a deep joy – that Jesus can’t go anymore through the agony - but that He wants to go through it in me - More than ever I surrender myself to Him - Yes - more than ever I will be at His disposal.
In this yes of Mother Teresa there is all her holiness and all of our Christian faith: all of what is asked of us to do and all of what we can do. Jesus does the rest.
Mother Teresa is a Saint for everyone
Precisely because she was able to share the suffering of Jesus, she understood that she was loved in a special way by God.
Mother Teresa is a Saint for everyone, for the poor and the rich, and for our time, devastated by so much violence and aridity of heart, because she has shown that the evil/misery that we all carry within us, can be forgiven and that, grasping the merciful and secure hand that Jesus extends to us, our darknesses can be overcome.
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