Mother Teresa: Beatification Greatest Event of Pontificate
There will be 3,000 poor persons in the front seats at the beatification
Rome (Italy), 15 October (VID) – “Only 4 days until the Beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta”, announces web site created by the Missionary Sisters of Charity to present information on the life and works of their Foundress, Madre Teresa of Calcutta, who will be raised to the honors of the altar by Pope John Paul II on Sunday, October 19, 2003.
According
to the latest news released by the Sisters, the City of
There will be 450 of Mother Teresa’s Sister in the front with 2,000 poor persons present for the occasion. It is thought that the major part of the pilgrims will be arriving from Italy, where the “Sister of the Poor” is very popular, 30 thousand from outside Italy and 10 thousand from the United States and Canada, while there will be one thousand people from India and a thousand from Albania.
The organizers are installing either maxi-screens to allow the faithful along Via della Conciliazone and St. Peter’s Square to follow the ceremony, while the Reception Committee has organized 450 Sisters and is working full time in distributing tickets and coordinating the activities.
In preparation of the big day, an exhibit on “The Life, Spirit and Message of Mother Teresa” has opened at the Antonianum Athenaeum of the Friars Minor.
Friday
there will be a prayer vigil in St. John Lateran Basilica and the relics of Mother Teresa
will be present, while Saturday, the vigil of the ceremony, there will be a convention on
Mother Teresa at the
A message from Mother Teresa
When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give
him a plate of rice, a piece of bread. But a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted,
unloved, terrified, the person who has been thrown out of society - that spiritual poverty
is much harder to overcome.
Those who are materially poor can be very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we
picked up four people from the street.
And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters:
"You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse."
So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful
smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only:
"Thank you" - and she died.
I could not help but examine my conscience before her. And I asked: "What would I say
if I were in her place?" And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a
little attention to myself. I would have said: "I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I
am in pain," or something. But she gave me much more, she gave me her grateful love.
And she died with a smile on her face.
Then there was the man we picked up from the drain, half eaten by worms and, after we had
brought him to the home, he only said,
"I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die as an angel, loved
and cared for."
Then, after we had removed all the worms from his body, all he said, with a big smile,
was: "Sister, I am going home to God" - and he died. It was so wonderful to see
the greatness of that man who could speak like that without blaming anybody, without
comparing anything.
Like an angel - this is the greatness of people who are spiritually rich even when they
are materially poor....
"Life"
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is wealth, keep it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfil it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
MAIN EVENTS IN HER LIFE
1910
Born Agnes Goinxha Bejaxhiu to Albanian parents of peasant stock in Skopje in the former
Yugoslavia on August 27.
Attended government school.
Deeply religious from the age of 12.
1946
Sets up her own home to help the poor and sick of Calcutta.
Said she received a 'divine call' to work among the poor.
1948
Becomes an Indian citizen.
1950
Sets up Missionaries of Charity.
1971
Awarded the Pope John Peace Prize.
1979
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
She did not want the traditional lavish banquet that accompanies the prize ceremony in
Oslo each year to be held. Instead, she asked that the money which would be used to pay
for the banquet be sent to the poor in Calcutta.
1980
Bestowed India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
1989
Suffers heart trouble, fitted with pacemaker.
1990
Asks to stand down as head of the order but is voted back in as superior general.
1991
Undergoes heart surgery in the United States.
1993
Further surgery in Calcutta to clear a blocked heart vessel.
1996
Suffers heart failure on Aug 22. Her heart stops beating for around two minutes but she is
resuscitated. She later has a heart attack and undergoes further surgery to clear her
heart arteries.
1997
On March 13 Sister Nirmala is elected to succeed Mother Teresa as head of the Missonaries
of Charity.
September 5, 1997
Dies in Calcutta.
LATEST: October 8, 1997
A statue has been inaugurated in the southern Hungarian city of Roszke to the late Mother
Teresa of Calcutta who devoted her life to helping the poor.