St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
February 25, 2019
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Little is known about her early life, but at a young age, she felt a calling to be a nun and serve through helping the poor. At the age of 18, she was given permission to join a group of nuns in Ireland. After a few months of training, with the Sisters of Loreto, she was then given permission to travel to India. She took her formal religious vows in 1931 and chose to be named after St Therese of Lisieux – the patron saint of missionaries.
On her arrival in India, she began by working as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of Calcutta made a deep impression on her, and this led to her starting a new order called “The Missionaries of Charity”. The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Mother Teresa felt that serving others was a fundamental principle of the teachings of Jesus Christ. She often mentioned the saying of Jesus,
- “Biography Mother Teresa | .” Biography Online, www.biographyonline.net/nobelprize/mother_teresa.html.
St. Therese of Lisieux
St. Therese of Lisieux
The start of the "little way"
August 8, 2019
As the patron saint of the Diocese of Pueblo St. Therese of Lisieux continues to inspire faithful Catholics to attain salvation using the "little way." St. Therese is a great role model to the Catholic youth as we continue on our living pilgrimage of faith. St. Therese entered the Carmelite convent of Lisieux at the age of 15. Due to her young age, Therese met many oppositions to her entering the convent at such a young age and was denied her request to enter. On a trip she took with her father and sister, she attended the general audience of Pope Leo XIII and ran to the feet of the Holy Father pleading for permission to enter the convent. The Holy Father instructed Therese to wait and obey her superiors. Therese had to be carried away by the papal guards in tears and she continued to pray and wait.On April 9, 1988 she was given the news that she would be received into the monastery. As she continued her life with the Carmelites she observed that many sisters maintained the view of God as an avenging God and began to realize her spirituality was taking a different route and thus began to develop her philosophy of the "little way." In the littleness that she felt her daily struggles were offered in prayer. She was canonized in 1925 and made a Doctor of the Church in 1997 by St. Pope John Paul II. We must all strive to seek the face of God in the littleness of our lives as St. Therese did. To continue to allow our hearts to be our spiritual guides instead of our emotions. In the wise words of St. Therese we must all continue to see the love of God in everything we do:
"How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul."
Story of A Soul, Chapter VIII
Source: “Love of God - Words of St. Therese.” Society of the Little Flower - US, www.littleflower.org/therese/words-of-st-therese/love-of-god/.