St. Teresa of Calcutta

Mother Teresa, who served Christ in the dying of Calcutta's streets through fifty years of interior darkness.

The story

A Loreto sister teaching in Calcutta, Teresa received a "call within a call" on a train in 1946 to serve the poorest of the poor. She left the convent with five rupees, founded the Missionaries of Charity, and opened homes for the dying, lepers, and abandoned children on every continent. Her private letters revealed that she felt God's absence for decades, and she loved anyway.

What Teresa teaches

Do small things with great love. Fidelity in darkness is faith at its purest.

Patronage

World Youth Day, the Missionaries of Charity, the poorest of the poor.

Prayer

St. Teresa of Calcutta, help us to see Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor, and to love Him there. Amen.