Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Religious, Founder - Optional Memorial
Other Celebrations for this Day:
Introduction
Mother Teresa: A Saint for the Poorest of the Poor
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, known to the world as Mother Teresa, was born in 1910 in Albania as Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu. In 1929, she entered the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, and took the name Teresa. She was sent to India as a missionary, where her vocation took root.
On 10 September 1946, while on a train journey, she experienced a profound interior call from Jesus. She described it as a summons to be “a light” of his love to souls, particularly by serving the abandoned and the poorest of the poor. Two years later, she began gathering the dying, the homeless, the sick, abandoned women, and children covered in sores, giving them shelter and dignity. From this humble beginning grew the Missionaries of Charity, the religious congregation she founded to serve “the poorest of the poor.”
Mother Teresa also endured what she described as a long “dark night of the soul,” a spiritual dryness that paradoxically revealed the triumph of Christ’s light in her life. She bore this hidden trial with serenity while dedicating herself to Christ, present in the most neglected. On 5 September 1997, she passed away peacefully in Calcutta, having totally offered her life in service to God and the poor. Pope Francis canonized her as Saint Teresa of Calcutta on 4 September 2016, presenting her to the Church as a radiant witness of God’s mercy in the modern world.
Opening Prayer
O God, who called the Virgin Saint Teresa to respond to the love of your Son thirsting on the Cross with outstanding charity to the poorest of the poor, grant us, we beseech you, by her intercession, to minister to Christ in our suffering brothers and sisters. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 34(33):2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear and be glad.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
Glority the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Taste and wee how good the LORD is; blessed the man who takes refuge in him.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
Fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for nought is lacking to those who fear him. The great grow poor and hungry; but those who seek the LORD want for no good thing.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
Alleluia Verse
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The Judgment of the Nations
When the Son of Man arrives in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on his throne of glory.
All the nations will be brought before him; and just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,
so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
The king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.
I was a stranger, and you welcomed me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to see me.
Then the righteous will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food; thirsty and give you something to drink;
or a stranger and welcome you; or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to see you?’
The king will reply, ‘Truly, I say to you: just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’
Prayers of the Faithful
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
As we proclaim your wonders, O Lord, in the Virgin Blessed St. Teresa of Calcutta, we humble implore your majesty that, as her merits are pleasing to you, so, too, our dutiful service may find favor in you sight . Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
PREFACE OF VIRGINS AND RELIGIOUS
(The sign of a life consecrated to God)
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.
For in the Saints who consecrated themselves to Christ for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, it is right to celebrate the wonders of your providence, by which you call human nature back to its original holiness and bring it to experience on this earth the gifts you promise in the new world to come.
And so, with all the Angels and Saints, we praise you, as without end we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts…
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
Behold, the bridegroom is coming; come out to meet Christ the Lord. (Cf Mt 25:6)
Or
There is one thing I ask of the Lord, only this do I seek: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. (Cf. Ps 27:6)
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Renewed by partaking of this divine gift, we pray, O Lord our God, that by the example of the blessed St. Teresa of Calcutta, bearing in our body the Death of Jesus, we may strive to hold fast to you alone. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.