Saint Teresa of Calcutta is famous all over the world for her charity work and for her unwavering faith in God. St. Teresa dedicated her whole life to serving the poor and downtrodden, to give dignity to every human person.
St. Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, to Nikollë and Dranafile Bojaxhiuin in Üsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire. Mother Teresa was 12 years old when she received the call to serve God as a nun.
She became a Loreto nun and took her first vows on May 24, 1931, as Sister Teresa, a name she chose after St. Teresa of Lisieux and decided to serve in India where she was appointed as a principal to one of the St. Mary’s Schools in Calcutta. After nine years of service, she got a vision from God asking her to serve the poorest of the poor.
Upon receiving this call Mother Teresa left the convent to serve the slums in Calcutta where she learned and used her basic medical knowledge to help the people with minimum medical help.
Upon seeing the worst health conditions of the slums, she petitioned to form her order of nuns, the Missionaries of Charity to serve the poor.
Her request was granted by Pope Pius XII; the Missionaries of Charity was established on Oct. 7, 1950.A children’s home (Shishu Bhavan), was established under the Missionaries of Charity for orphans, where children were housed, fed, given medical aid and education.
During this period leprosy, a disease that can lead to major disfiguration affected huge masses of the population.
Lepers (people infected with leprosy) were abandoned by their families due to fear of contracting the disease, Mother Teresa wanted to help, serve and cure these neglected people.
Leprosy Fund and Leprosy Day were established for public awareness of the disease and mobile leper clinics were built to treat the patients affected with leprosy.
By the 1960’s Mother Teresa had established a leper colony called Shanti Nagar (“The Place of Peace”) where lepers were treated and cured. Mother Teresa’s charity work continued throughout her 70s and 80s where she opened “Gift of Love” homes in New York, San Francisco, Denver, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for AIDS sufferers. Mother Teresa’s health deteriorated in her 90s and she died of heart failure on Sept. 5, 1997.
She was laid to rest at the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata. Mother Teresa had left behind more than 4,000 Missionary of Charity Sisters at 610 centers in 123 countries.
Mother Teresa was titled “Blessed” in 2003 and was canonized as a saint on September 4, 2016. She was honored with many awards for her incredible contribution to charity.
Mother Teresa stands out as one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century. Her profound commitment to her cause and work has allowed her to develop a vast and effective international organization of missionaries to help impoverished citizens all across the globe.
Facts
Novena Starts: August 27th
Feast Day: September 5th
Significance of Mother Teresa Novena
Praying to Mother Teresa Novena seeking her intercession leads the devout to Jesus. Mother Teresa Novena is best done in the solitude of home or a church.
Read more: Mother Teresa Flying Novena
Mother Teresa Novena
Day 1
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Know the Living Jesus?
Do you really know the living Jesus — not from books but from being with Him in your heart?
Am I convinced of Christ’s love for me and mine for Him? This conviction is the rock on which sanctity is built. What must we do to get this conviction? We must know Jesus, love Jesus, serve Jesus. Knowledge will make you strong as death. We know Jesus through faith: by meditating on His Word in the Scriptures, by listening to Him speak through His Church, and through the intimate union of prayer.
Seek Him in the tabernacle. Fix your eyes on Him who is the Light. Bring your hearts close to His Divine Heart and ask Him to grant you the grace of knowing Him.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 2
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Jesus Loves You
Am I convinced of Christ’s love for me, and mine for Him? This conviction is like the sunlight which makes the sap of life rise and the buds of sanctity bloom. This conviction is the rock on which sanctity is built.
The devil may try to use hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes, to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you, is really cleaving to you. This is a danger for all of us. And so sad, because it is completely opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you. … He loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy.
Jesus loves you tenderly, you are precious to Him. Turn to Jesus with great trust and allow yourself to be loved by Him. The past belongs to His mercy, the future to His providence, and the present to His love.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Read more: St. Anne Novena
Day 3
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear Him Say to You: “I Thirst”
In His agony, in His pain, in His loneliness, He said very clearly, ‘Why have You forsaken Me?’ He was so terribly lonely and forsaken and suffering on the Cross.…At this most difficult time He proclaimed: ‘I thirst.’…And the people thought He was thirsty in an ordinary way and they gave Him vinegar straight-away; but it was not that He thirsted for—it was for our love, our affection, that intimate attachment to Him, and that sharing of His passion. And it is strange that He used such a word. He used ‘I thirst’ instead of ‘Give Me your love.’… The thirst of Jesus on the Cross is not imagination. It was a word: ‘I thirst.’ Let us hear Him saying it to me and saying it to you. …It is really a gift of God.
If you listen with your heart, you will hear, you will understand. …Until you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you, you can’t begin to know who He wants to be for you. Or who He wants you to be for Him.
Follow His footsteps in search of souls. Carry Him and His light into the homes of the poor, especially to the souls most in need. Spread the charity of His Heart wherever you go and so satiate His thirst for souls.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 4
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Our Lady Will Help You
How much we need Mary to teach us what it means to satiate God’s Thirsting Love for us, which Jesus came to reveal to us. She did it so beautifully. Yes, Mary allowed God to take possession of her life by her purity, her humility, and her faithful love.…Let us seek to grow, under the guidance of our Heavenly Mother, in these three important interior attitudes of soul that delight the Heart of God and enable Him to unite Himself to us, in and through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in doing so that, like Mary our Mother, we will allow God to take full possession of our whole being—and through us God will be able to reach out His Thirsting Love to all we come in contact with, especially the poor.
If we stand with Our Lady, she will give us her spirit of loving trust, total surrender, and cheerfulness.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 5
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Trust Jesus Blindly
Trust in the good God, who loves us, who cares for us, who sees all, knows all, can do all things for my good and the good of souls.
Christ accepted to die because He trusted His Father. He knew that from that apparent failure God will work out His plan of salvation. For us, too, we must have that deep faith and trust that if we are doing God’s will, He will work out His plan of salvation in us and through us in spite of any failure we may meet.
Jesus never changes.…Trust Him lovingly, trust Him with a big smile, always believing He is the Way to the Father, He is the light in this world of darkness.
So let us all make that one strong resolution that we will be all love to Jesus in the world…that we will be at His disposal to make use of us without consulting us. And I think that is the best way to show our love for Him, to accept Him as He comes. If He wants to come into our life in humiliation, in suffering, all right; if He wants in publicity, all right. Whatever it be, success, failure, it makes no difference to Him, and it should not make a difference to us either.
Mary, too, showed that complete trust in God by accepting to be used for His plan of salvation in spite of her nothingness, for she knew that He who is mighty could do great things in her and through her. She trusted. Once she said ‘yes’ to Him—[it was] finished. She never doubted.”
“Do not be afraid to love Jesus tenderly. When you trust Him, He will do great things for you.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Read more: Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena
Day 6
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
True Love Is Surrender
‘I thirst’ has no meaning unless through total surrender I give all to Jesus.
Today I will do whatever Jesus wants. And you will see that oneness. That surrender to God, to use you without consulting you. That accepting is a great sign of union with God. Holiness is that total surrender to God. Totus tuus. Completely yours. Totus tuus. Completely surrendered. Very clear! Complete. That accepting whatever He gives. That giving whatever He takes. You need much love to be able to see the hand of God.
I only want to do what God wants. Let us have the courage to do what God wants, even if it is difficult.
Often you see small and big wires, new and old, cheap and expensive, lined up. Unless and until the current passes through them, there will be no light. The wire is you and me. The current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us, and produce the Light of the World—Jesus; or refuse to be used and allow darkness to spread. Our Lady was the most wonderful wire. She allowed God to fill her to the brim, so by her surrender—‘ Be it done to me according to your word’—she became full of grace; and naturally the moment she was filled by this current, the grace of God, she went in haste to Elizabeth’s house to connect the wire, John, to the current, Jesus.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 7
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
God Loves a Cheerful Giver
Joy, to be fruitful, has to be shared.
By this joy I mean that inner depth of joy in you, in your eyes, look, face, movements, actions, swiftness, etc. ‘That My joy may be in you,’ says Jesus. What is this joy of Jesus? It is the result of His continual union with God, doing the Will of the Father. ‘I have come that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.’
This joy is the fruit of union with God, of being in the presence of God. Living in the presence of God fills us with joy. God is Joy.
Joy shines in the eyes, comes out in the speech and walk…when people see the habitual happiness in your eyes, it will make them realize they are the loved children of God.
Without joy there is no love, and love without joy is not true love. And so, we need to bring that love and that joy into the world of today.
Joy was the strength of Our Lady, too. Our Lady was the first Missionary of Charity. She was the first one to receive Jesus physically and to carry Jesus to others; and she went in haste. Only joy could give her this strength and swiftness to go and do the work of a handmaid.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 8
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Jesus Made Himself the Bread of Life and the Hungry One
He proved His love to us by giving His own life, His own being. ‘He being rich became poor’ for you and for me. He gave Himself totally. He died on the Cross. But before He died, He made Himself the Bread of Life to satisfy our hunger for love, for Him. He said, ‘Unless you eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, you cannot have life eternal.’
And the greatness of that love of His made Him the hungry one, and He said, ‘I was hungry and you fed Me, and unless you feed Me, you cannot enter eternal life.’ That is the giving of Christ. And today God keeps on loving the world. He keeps on sending you and me to prove that He loves the world, that He still has that compassion for the world. It is we who have to be His love, His compassion in the world of today. But to be able to love we must have faith, for faith in action is love, and love in action is service. That is why Jesus made Himself the Bread of Life, that we might be able to eat and live and be able to see Him in the distressing disguise of the poor.
Our life must be woven with the Eucharist. From Jesus in the Eucharist we learn how much God thirsts to love us and how He thirsts for our love and for the love of souls in return. From Jesus in the Eucharist we receive the light and strength to quench His Thirst.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Day 9
Let us begin, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Holiness Is Jesus Living and Acting in Me
Our works of charity are nothing but the overflow of our love of God from within. Therefore, the one who is most united to Him loves her neighbor most.
We must become holy not because we want to feel holy, but because Christ must be able to live His life fully in us.
Sanctity is the acceptance of the will of God with a big smile…that’s all. Just that acceptance, to accept Him as He comes in our life, accepting to take from us what He wants, to make use of us as He wants, to put us where He wants, to use us as He wants…without consulting us.
Holiness is not in the feelings or in imagination, it is reality. One thing that helps me and will help you is this: works of love are works of holiness.
Let us spend ourselves with Him and for Him. Let Him see with your eyes, speak with your tongue, work with your hands, walk with your feet, think with your head, and love with your heart. Is this not perfect union, a continual loving prayer? God is our loving Father. Let your light of love so shine before man that seeing your good works (the washing, sweeping, cooking, loving your husband and the children), they may glorify the Father.
Be holy. Holiness is the easiest way to satiate Jesus’s Thirst, His for you and yours for Him.
Novena Prayer
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all.
Obtain from the Heart of Jesus …
<<insert your special request>>
Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others.
Amen.
Recite once
Our Father
Hail Mary
Glory Be
Read more: St. Clare Novena
