Pope Francis will canonize Mother Teresa on Sept. 4, in Rome later this year. This day is significant because it will be during the celebration of the Jubilee for volunteers and workers of mercy and Mother Teresa has come to be a symbol of God’s mercy for the poor and discarded of this world.
Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bokaxhiu in 1910 to Albanian parents in Skopje, now part of Macedonia, joined the Sisters of Loretto when she was 17. She was eventually sent to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in India and it was here where she felt a calling to leave the walls of the convent and serve the poorest of the city. In 1950, she founded the Sisters of Charity, a religious order that takes a fourth vow to dedicate their lives in service of the poorest of the poor. It was through these actions that Mother Teresa was able to attract worldwide attention for her compassion and service to those most in need.
Mother Teresa died in 1997 and was beatified by John Paul II on Oct. 19, 2003, after a first miracle was attributed to her intercession. In 2008, a Brazilian man was healed after praying for her intercessions while combating multiple brain tumors. Approval for the validity of the second miracle was given on Dec. 17, 2015, after confirming that the disappearance of his tumors could not be explained scientifically.
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[Source: Jesuits (USA Northeast Province)]
