MOTHER THERESA'S HOUSE AND TOMB
Born: August 26, 1910 Died: September 5, 1997 Achievements: Started Missionaries of Charity in 1950; received Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979; received Bharat Ratna in 1980. Mother Teresa was one of the great servants of humanity. She was an Albanian Catholic nun who came to India and founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata. Later on Mother Teresa attained Indian citizenship. Her selfless work among the poverty-stricken people of Kolkata (Calcutta) is an inspiration for people all over the world and she was honored with Nobel Prize for her work. Mother Teresa's original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was born on August 27, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia . Her father was a successful merchant and she was youngest of the three siblings. At the age of 12, she decided that she wanted to be a missionary and spread the love of Christ. At the age of 18 she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. After a few months of training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin Mother Teresa came to India. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught geography and catechism at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. However, the prevailing poverty in Calcutta had a deep impact on Mother Teresa's mind and in 1948, she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. After a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, she returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the Poor. She started an open-air school for homeless children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and she received financial support from church organizations and the municipal authorities. On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Vatican to start her own order. Vatican originally labeled the order as the Diocesan Congregation of the Calcutta Diocese, and it later came to known as the "Missionaries of Charity". The primary task of the Missionaries of Charity was to take care of those persons who nobody was prepared to look after. The Missionaries of Charity, which began as a small Order with 12 members in Calcutta, today has more than 4,000 nuns running orphanages, AIDS hospices, charity centres worldwide, and caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless and victims of floods, epidemics and famine in Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America, Poland, and Australia. In 1965, by granting a Decree of Praise, Pope Paul VI granted Mother Teresa permission to expand her order to other countries. The order's first house outside India was in Venezuela . Presently, the "Missionaries of Charity" has presence in more than 100 countries. Mother Teresa's work has been recognised and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions. These include the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), Nehru Prize for Promotion of International Peace & Understanding (1972), Balzan Prize (1978), Nobel Peace Prize (1979) and Bharat Ratna (1980). On March 13, 1997, Mother Teresa stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity and died on September 5, 1997, just 9 days after her 87th birthday. Following Mother Teresa's death, the Holy See began the process of beatification, the second step towards possible canonization, or sainthood. This process requires the documentation of a miracle performed from the intercession of Mother Teresa. In 2002, the Vatican recognized as a miracle the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman, Monica Besra, following the application of a locket containing Teresa's picture. Monica Besra said that a beam of light emanated from the picture, curing the cancerous tumor. Mother Teresa was formally beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 2003 with the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. A second miracle is required for her to proceed to canonization. Information from Mother's House. |
UPON arrival to Mother Theresa's House we were told the House is closed on Thursdays. Wonderful. But it really didn't matter as our day yesterday was experiencing the LIVING LEGACY of Mother Theresa at the Theotokos Girls and Boys Orphanage.
We did appreciate that we could pay our respects at the Tomb of Mother Theresa. The nuns keep a vigil over her tomb.
We were allowed to take the flower petals and a Mother Theresa Medal. Mother used a simple "tool" as a symbol of her charity: the Miraculous Medal. They say it was a common sight to watch Mother take a fistful of such medals, kiss them, and hand them out to the poor. On her last visit to the Bronx in New York in June 1997, sitting in a wheelchair less than three months before her death, Mother cradled a full basket of these medals on her lap. She gave them to the Priests greeting her after the Mass. In the last year of her life her Sisters distributed 1.8 million of them spreading the gospel message of love.
Pilgrims pay respects to Mother Theresa everyday.
"carry Jesus to them-the poor- Fear not. Teach them to say the Rosary-the family Rosary- and all will be well. Fear not-Jesus and I will be with you and your children". Why is Mother Theresa so famous? Per Pope Benedict XVI on the 100th Anniversary of her birth stated:
Bl. Teresa of Calcutta lived charity to all without distinction, but with a preference for the poorest and the most forsaken: a luminous sign of the God’s fatherhood and goodness. She was able to recognize in each one the Face of Christ, whom she loved with her whole being: she continued to meet the Christ she worshipped and received in the Eucharist on the roads and streets of the city, becoming a living “image” of Jesus who pours on man’s wounds the grace of merciful love.
The answer to those who ask why Mother Teresa became so famous is simple: because she lived in a humble and hidden way, for love and in the love of God. She herself said that her greatest reward was to love Jesus and to serve him in the poor. Her slight figure, her hands joined, or while she was caressing a sick person, a leper, someone dying, or a child, is the visible sign of a life transformed by God. In the night of human sorrow she made the light of divine Love shine out and helped so many hearts to rediscover that peace which God alone can give.
Let us thank the Lord, because in Bl. Teresa of Calcutta we have all seen how our life can change when it encounters Jesus; it can become a reflection of God’s light for others. To so many men and women in wretched situations of suffering, she brought consolation and the certainty that God does not ever abandon anyone! Her mission continues here as in other parts of the world through all those, who live her charism as men and women Missionaries of Charity.
Our gratitude is great, dear Sisters, dear Brothers, for your humble and discreet presence, hidden from human eyes but extraordinary and precious to the heart of God. Your witness of life tells human beings, often in search of illusory happiness, where true joy is to be found: in sharing, in giving, in loving with the same freely-given generosity as God, who breaks the logic of human selfishness.
Dear friends! May you know that the Pope loves you, caries you in his heart, gathers you all in a fatherly embrace and prays for you. Very many good wishes! Thank you for having wanted to share the joy of these days of celebration. I invoke the motherly protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth which we are celebrating today — Jesus, Mary and Joseph — and I bless you all and your loved ones.
A 3 dimensional sculpture of Mother Theresa caring for a baby. Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Theresa in Rome on Oct 19, 2003. Though she is now called, "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta", for children for the poor, for her religious family and for all who knew and loved her and who pray to her, she continues to be "MOTHER". I am reminded of the inspriration Mother Theresa was to my new friend, Sister Nectaria.
FLIGHT TO DELHI smooth. The Delhi Airport is new and very modern unlike Calcutta where praying for passing the numerous security checks and all the "hand massaging" is part of the process. The flyover and roads around the airport are new. However they don't know what the stripped lines on the road mean. I finally figured out BEEP BEEP is part of the National Anthem.
....MORE OBEROI SLEEPING
Arriving at the Hotel we find about 100 military and police at the front gate. What's happening? " Oh a VIP is staying here"- so the double shake down and car check, which includes the trunk, under the hood and under the car. Who is it? Don't know M'am. Well I don't care sir and after receiving our complimentary RED DOT and floral lei it was off to the bar for a Martini. But not before one of the security guards chases Buddha Bubba down in the lobby and asks him if he has something metallic in his luggage. What? Oh yes he does I bark- he bought that dang SWORD. We all hold our breath, while I pray they take it from him. But no luck "so sorry to bother you Sir, that is alright. Please enjoy the SWORD".
36.5% tax at the hotel. Well somebody has to pay for those road stripes.
