Saint Mother Teresa

Virtue: Charity

Feast Day: 5th September

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the future Mother Teresa, was born on 26 August 1910, in

Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her father, a well-respected local businessman, died when she was eight years old, leaving her mother, a devoutly religious woman, to open an embroidery and cloth business to support the family. After spending her adolescence deeply involved in parish activities, Agnes left home in September 1928, for the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnham (Dublin), Ireland, where she was admitted as a postulant on October 12 and received the name of Teresa, after her patron, St. Therese of Lisieux.

Agnes was sent by the Loreto order to India and arrived in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. Upon her arrival, she joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling. She made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa.

Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Mother Teresa expanded the work of the Missionaries of Charity both within Calcutta and throughout India. From the late 1960s until 1980, the Missionaries of Charity expanded both in their reach across the globe and in their number of members. Mother Teresa opened houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America, and the first novitiate outside Calcutta in London. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. By that same year there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.

After a summer of travelling to Rome, New York, and Washington, in a weak state of health, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta in July 1997. At 9:30 PM, on 5 September, Mother Teresa died at the Motherhouse. Her body was transferred to St Thomas's Church, next to the Loreto convent where she had first arrived nearly 69 years earlier. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects.

Saint John Chrysostom

Virtue: Leadership

Feast Day: 14th September

People who stand up for what is right and condemn what is evil leave their mark on the world. They also may find themselves with many enemies! John Chrysostom, a great speaker and a courageous man knew this. He was born in Antioch. His father died when John was a child, so his mother guided his education. As a young man, he studied law and public speaking. When John was twenty-one his mother died and he joined a group of monks. Four years later, he lived as a hermit in a cave until he became ill. He returned to Antioch and became a priest at the age of thirty-two.

John is best known for his sermons. John became the bishop of Constantinople, but he continued to live a simple life, giving his money to the poor. He made many enemies, especially among the rich and proud. Eventually, John’s enemies falsely accused him and had him exiled twice and cruelly treated. He was a true prophet.

John died praying, “Glory be to God for everything. Amen.”

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