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(Vatican Radio) During the Canonization Mass for Blessed Mother Teresa, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato presented a brief biography of the Church's newest Saint in the presence of Pope Francis.

Below is an English language translation of the address of Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints

This humble nun, to whom countless numbers of people turn, affectionately calling her “Mother Teresa”, is the Blessed Soul we are presenting to your Holiness today so that, with her wished-for canonization, the whole world may contemplate her, ask her intercession, and imitate her in charitable works.

Throughout her life, following the example of Christ the Good Samaritan, she was always close to anyone she encountered who was in need, sharing in the suffering of those who live on the extreme outskirts of society and witnessing to God’s boundless love for His people.

I would like to present briefly the salient points of her life:

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26th 1910 in Skopje, to a family of Albanian origin. As an adolescent she became ever more active in her parish while her vocation to give herself totally to the Lord grew. Leaving her family, she was received as a Postulant in the convent of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Sisters of Loreto in Rathfarnam, near Dublin.

Sent to Darjeeling, in India, at the end of her novitiate, she made her final profession and took the name of Teresa. She served as a teacher and spent 17 years at Saint Mary’s Bengali Medium School, near Calcutta.

While travelling by train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, she received what she defined as “the call within the call”: an intuition to begin a religious institute that would “satisfy the infinite thirst of Jesus on the Cross for love and for souls by working for the salvation and the sanctification of the poorest of the poor”.

So she founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Charity, to which she later added the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity Brothers, lay organizations and the Movement open to the diocesan priesthood.

Mother Teresa was tireless, dedicating herself completely to announcing the Gospel through various charitable and aid works to the needy, with no distinction of rank, religion or race. At the heart of all her initiatives she placed the daily celebration of the Holy Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, prayer, and a great spirit of universal love that inspired her to see and serve Jesus in the poor.

Her heroic evangelical witness won the admiration of the highest authorities in the Church and the world. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Physically exhausted, but always strong in spirit, she died peacefully in Calcutta on September 5th 1997, enveloped in an immense, solid and unanimous odour of sanctity.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated the Rite of Canonization for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, at a Solemn Mass offered in St Peter’s Square.

During his homily, the Holy Father said, “Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defence of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded.”

To the many volunteers in Rome for the Jubilee for Volunteers and Workers of Mercy, Pope Francis offered St Teresa of Calcutta as a “model of holiness.”

Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared homily for the Mass for the Canonization of St Teresa of Calcutta:

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Holy Mass and Rite of Canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Peter’s Square, 4 September 2016

“Who can learn the counsel of God?”  (Wis 9:13).  This question from the Book of Wisdom that we have just heard in the first reading suggests that our life is a mystery and that we do not possess the key to understanding it.  There are always two protagonists in history: God and man.  Our task is to perceive the call of God and then to do his will.  But in order to do his will, we must ask ourselves, “What is God’s will in my life?”

We find the answer in the same passage of the Book of Wisdom: “People were taught what pleases you” (Wis 9:18).  In order to ascertain the call of God, we must ask ourselves and understand what pleases God.  On many occasions the prophets proclaimed what was pleasing to God.  Their message found a wonderful synthesis in the words “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos 6:6; Mt 9:13).  God is pleased by every act of mercy, because in the brother or sister that we assist, we recognize the face of God which no one can see (cf. Jn 1:18).  Each time we bend down to the needs of our brothers and sisters, we give Jesus something to eat and drink; we clothe, we help, and we visit the Son of God (cf. Mt 25:40).

We are thus called to translate into concrete acts that which we invoke in prayer and profess in faith.  There is no alternative to charity: those who put themselves at the service of others, even when they don’t know it, are those who love God (cf. 1 Jn 3:16-18; Jas 2:14-18).  The Christian life, however, is not merely extending a hand in times of need.  If it is just this, it can be, certainly, a lovely expression of human solidarity which offers immediate benefits, but it is sterile because it lacks roots.  The task which the Lord gives us, on the contrary, is the vocation to charity in which each of Christ’s disciples puts his or her entire life at his service, so to grow each day in love.

We heard in the Gospel, “Large crowds were travelling with Jesus” (Lk 14:25).  Today, this “large crowd” is seen in the great number of volunteers who have come together for the Jubilee of Mercy.  You are that crowd who follows the Master and who makes visible his concrete love for each person.  I repeat to you the words of the Apostle Paul: “I have indeed received much joy and comfort from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you” (Philem 1:7).  How many hearts have been comforted by volunteers!  How many hands they have held; how many tears they have wiped away; how much love has been poured out in hidden, humble and selfless service! This praiseworthy service gives voice to the faith and expresses the mercy of the Father, who draws near to those in need.

Following Jesus is a serious task, and, at the same time, one filled with joy; it takes a certain daring and courage to recognize the divine Master in the poorest of the poor and to give oneself in their service.  In order to do so, volunteers, who out of love of Jesus serve the poor and the needy, do not expect any thanks or recompense; rather they renounce all this because they have discovered true love.  Just as the Lord has come to meet me and has stooped down to my level in my hour of need, so too do I go to meet him, bending low before those who have lost faith or who live as though God did not exist, before young people without values or ideals, before families in crisis, before the ill and the imprisoned, before refugees and immigrants, before the weak and defenceless in body and spirit, before abandoned children, before the elderly who are on their own.  Wherever someone is reaching out, asking for a helping hand in order to get up, this is where our presence – and the presence of the Church which sustains and offers hope – must be.

Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defence of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded.  She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that “the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable”.   She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity; she made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created.  For Mother Teresa, mercy was the “salt” which gave flavour to her work, it was the “light” which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering.

Her mission to the urban and existential peripheries remains for us today an eloquent witness to God’s closeness to the poorest of the poor.  Today, I pass on this emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life to the whole world of volunteers: may she be your model of holiness!  May this tireless worker of mercy help us to increasingly understand that our only criterion for action is gratuitous love, free from every ideology and all obligations, offered freely to everyone without distinction of language, culture, race or religion.  Mother Teresa loved to say, “Perhaps I don’t speak their language, but I can smile”.  Let us carry her smile in our hearts and give it to those whom we meet along our journey, especially those who suffer.  In this way, we will open up opportunities of joy and hope for our many brothers and sisters who are discouraged and who stand in need of understanding and tenderness.

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(Vatican Radio) At the conclusion of the Mass in which he canonized Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope Francis led the faithful in the customary Sunday recitation of the Angelus.

In remarks ahead of the Marian prayer, the Holy Father greeted and thanked all those who took part in the day’s celebrations, especially those most closely attached to St Teresa.

He also thanked the various dignitaries in attendance, as well as the pilgrims who had come from all over the world.

Pope Francis spoke in a special way to the many volunteers present, who are in Rome to celebrate the Jubilee for Volunteers and Workers of Mercy. In this context the Pope remembered especially those who offer their service in “difficult and risky” situations. He recalled Sister Isabel, a Spanish missionary sister who was killed last week in Haiti, as well as other religious sisters who have suffered violence in recent days.

The full text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks for the Angelus can be found below:

Dear brothers and sisters,

While we prepare to conclude this celebration, I want to greet and thank all of you who have taken part:

First of all, the Missionaries of Charity, who are the spiritual family of Mother Teresa. Your holy Foundress always watches over your journey and obtains for you the ability to be faithful to God, to the Church, and to the poor.

With grateful deference I greet all the high Authorities present, in particular those coming from countries joined most closely to the figure of the new Saint, as well as the official delegations and the numerous pilgrims who have come from so many countries on this happy occasion. May God bless your nations.

And with affection I greet all of you, dear volunteers and workers of mercy. I entrust you to the protection of Mother Teresa: May she teach you to contemplate and adore each day Jesus Crucified in order to recognize Him and serve Him in our brothers and sisters in need. Let us ask this grace also for all those who are united to us through the media in every part of the world.

In this moment I want to recall the many people who spend themselves in service to their brothers and sisters in difficult and risky situations. I think especially of the many religious women who give their lives without sparing. Let us pray in particular for the Spanish missionary sister, Sister Isabel, who was killed two days ago in the capital of Haiti, a country that has been sorely tried, and for which I hope for an end to such acts of violence and for greater security for all. Let us also remember other Sisters who have recently suffered violence in other countries.

Let us do this by turning in prayer to the Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of all the saints.

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(Vatican Radio) Listen to Pope Francis pronounce the official Formula of Canonization, raising Mother Teresa of Calcutta to the honours of the altar: 

Ad honorem Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis, 
ad exaltationem Fidei Catholicae
et vitae christianae incrementum
auctoritate Domini nostri Iesu Christi,
beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostra,
matura deliberatione praehabita
et divina ope saepius implorata, 
ac de plurimorum Fratrum Nostrorum consilio,
Beatam Teresiam de Calcutta
Sanctam esse decernimus et definimus,
ac Sanctorum Catalogo adscribimus,
statuentes eam in universa Ecclesia
inter Sanctos pia devotione recoli debere.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.

Amen.

English translation: 

To the honour of the holy and undivided Trinity,
for the exaltation of the Catholic faith
and the increase of the Christian life,
by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and of Ourselves,
after mature deliberation
and frequent prayer for the Divine assistance,
with the advice of Our venerable brethren,
We decree and define
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a saint,
and We place her name in the catalogue of Saints,
decreeing that in the universal Church
she is to be venerated among the Saints with pious devotion.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

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Vatican City, Sep 4, 2016 / 02:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Sunday officially declared Mother Teresa of Calcutta a saint of the Catholic Church in front of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square – a move the entire world has been waiting for.

“For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a Saint,” Pope Francis exclaimed Sept. 4 as the crowd roared with applause.

“We enroll her among the Saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Throngs of pilgrims flooded the Vatican on Sept. 4 to celebrate the highly anticipated canonization of Mother Teresa, an event that Catholics and non-Catholics alike have looked forward to since the nun’s death in 1997.

Her canonization is significant not only because it took place during the Jubilee of Mercy, but also because it fell during a special Sept. 2-4 Jubilee celebration for workers and volunteers of mercy, of whom Mother Teresa is widely considered one of the greatest of our time.

Mother Teresa is officially a saint! Here's a portion of the Pope's declaration! #MotherTeresa https://t.co/Q80ihsT3nx

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) September 4, 2016 Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia. The youngest of three children, she attended a youth group run by a Jesuit priest called Sodality, which eventually opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun.

She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta, where she taught at a high school. After contracting tuberculosis, she was sent to rest in Darjeeling, and it was on the way that she felt what she called “an order” from God to leave the convent and live among the poor.

The Vatican granted her permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and to live her new call under the guidance of the Archbishop of Calcutta.

After she left her convent, Mother Teresa began working in the slums, teaching poor children, and treating the sick in their homes. A year later, some of her former students joined her, and together they took in men, women and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets.

In 1950, the Missionaries of Charity were born as a congregation of the Diocese of Calcutta. In 1952, the government granted them a house from which to continue their mission of serving Calcutta's poor and forgotten.

The congregation quickly grew from a single house for the dying and unwanted to nearly 500 houses around the world.

Mother Teresa set up homes for prostitutes, battered women, orphanages for poor children and houses for those suffering from AIDS.

She was a fierce defender of the unborn, and is known to have said, “If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God's love.”

She died Sept. 5, 1997, and was beatified just six years later by St. John Paul II Oct. 19, 2003.
 

Read more on the canonization Mass and Pope Francis' homily:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In his homily for Mother Teresa&#39;s canonization, Pope Francis reflects on our &#39;vocation to charity&#39; <a href="https://t.co/FfTTLoOb5H">https://t.co/FfTTLoOb5H</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BeMercy?src=hash">#BeMercy</a></p>&mdash; Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnalive/status/772385546626736128">September 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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Vatican City, Sep 4, 2016 / 04:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- More than just helping people in need, the Christian life must include the roots of charity, putting our entire lives at the service of Christ, as Mother Teresa did, Pope Francis said Sunday.

“The task which the Lord gives us ... is the vocation to charity in which each of Christ's disciples puts his or her entire life at his service, so to grow each day in love,” the Pope said in his homily for the Canonization Mass of Mother Teresa of Calcutta Sept. 4.

It is estimated that there were 120,000 people in attendance at the Mass, according to the Vatican Press Office.

Referencing the question: “Who can learn the counsel of God?” in the Book of Wisdom, Francis said our task is to realize the call of God and then to do his will. But in order to do his will, we must first find out what it is.

“We find the answer in the same passage of the Book of Wisdom: 'People were taught what pleases you,'” he said.

What we are called to do, therefore, Pope Francis said, is “to translate into concrete acts that which we invoke in prayer and profess in faith.”

Following Jesus is not for the weak, the Pope continued, but is a serious task, although one “filled with joy. It takes a certain daring and courage to recognize the divine Master in the poorest of the poor and to give oneself in their service.”

The many volunteers and workers of mercy present in St. Peter's Square Sunday for the Jubilee of Mercy and for Mother Teresa's canonization are like the “large crowds” traveling with Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, the Pope said. They make visible Christ's concrete love for each person.

“How many hearts have been comforted by volunteers! How many hands they have held; how many tears they have wiped away; how much love has been poured out in hidden, humble and selfless service!” he said.

Mother Teresa's life was given to this service. She was committed to defending life, especially the “unborn and those abandoned and discarded,” Francis said. She was “a generous dispenser of divine mercy.”

“She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable,” he added. 

Just as Christ has bent down to help us, we must bend down to help the Christ found in those in need. “Wherever someone is reaching out, asking for a helping hand in order to get up, this is where our presence – and the presence of the Church which sustains and offers hope – must be.”

Speaking of Mother Teresa, Pope Francis noted how she “bowed down before those who were spent … seeing in them their God-given dignity.”

“Today, I pass on this emblematic figure of womanhood and of consecrated life to the whole world of volunteers: may she be your model of holiness!” he said.

“Let us carry her smile in our hearts and give it to those whom we meet along our journey, especially those who suffer. In this way, we will open up opportunities of joy and hope for our many brothers and sisters who are discouraged and who stand in need of understanding and tenderness.”

After the Mass, Pope Francis continued immediately with praying the Sunday Angelus, first greeting and thanking everyone who took part, especially the Missionaries of Charity, whom he called the “spiritual family of Mother Teresa.”

He also greeted the various national delegations, pilgrims, volunteers and workers of mercy, and anyone who, through media, joined in the celebration from around the world.

“I entrust you to the protection of Mother Teresa: she teaches you to contemplate and adore Jesus Crucified every day, to recognize him and serve him in our brothers in need.”

The Pope concluded his Angelus message by asking for prayers especially for Sister Isabel, 51, a Spanish missionary nun who was shot and killed Sept. 2 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during what appears to have been a robbery.

Pope Francis prayed for an end to violence, and for greater security around the world.

“We also remember other Sisters that recently have experienced violence in other countries,” he prayed, doing so “by addressing in prayer the Virgin Mary, Mother and Queen of all saints.”


 

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