Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Feast Day September 5

On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the “call within a call,” which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family: “to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love and souls” by “laboring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor.” On October 7, 1950, the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

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 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.

By 1997, the Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world.

On September 5, 1997 Mother Teresa died at her Motherhouse in Calcutta. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present at her funeral on behalf of countries from all over the world. 

Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Priest & Martyr

August 14

St. Maximilian Kolbe was born in Poland in 1894 and at about the age of 10 had a vision of the Virgin Mary. She offered him a white crown and a red crown, representing purity and martyrdom. He chose both, a foreshadowing of his life to come. In 1910, he joined the Conventual Franciscan Order. He was sent to study in Rome where he founded the Militia Immaculatae on October 16, 1917, an organization dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ordained a priest in 1918, Father Maximilian returned to Poland and began his untiring missionary activity, starting a monthly magazine and establishing two evangelization centers dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin: Niepokalanów, the “City of the Immaculata,” in Poland, and Mugenzai no Sono in Japan, and envisioned missionary centers worldwide. To better “win the world for Christ through the Immaculata,” the friars utilized the most modern techniques. St. Maximilian used short-wave radio and planned to build a motion picture studio.

In 1939, during WWII, at Niepokalanów he welcomed thousands of refugees, especially Jews. In 1941, St. Maximilian was arrested by the Nazis and taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. At the end of July 1941, a prisoner escaped from the camp, prompting the deputy camp commander, to pick ten men to be starved to death in an underground bunker to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, “My wife! My children!” Kolbe volunteered to take his place and was condemned to slow death in a starvation bunker. He died on August 14, 1941, with an injection of carbolic acid. Pope John Paul II canonized him as a Saint and Martyr of Charity on October 10, 1982. Franciszek Gajowniczek, the man Kolbe saved at Auschwitz, survived the Holocaust and was present as a guest at both the beatification and the canonization ceremonies. St. Maximilian Kolbe is a patron of journalists, families, prisoners, the pro-life movement, the chemically addicted and those with eating disorders.

Pornography Addiction

The internet has opened up an easy access to pornography which has become a major addiction in our society and a burden to many men. And the Church wants to help.  The Archdiocese of New Orleans has a confidential Catholic 12-step program for men struggling with an addition to pornography called the “My House Men’s Group.”  For more information contact (504) 430-3060 or email myhouse@archdiocese-no.org

Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon & Martyr – August 10

One of my favorite saints, and one of the patrons of the City of Rome is the Deacon-Martyr, St. Lawrence.  There are actually more churches built in Rome to honor St. Lawrence in the Holy City than any other saint, including St. Peter, himself.  His story of courage and his great love for the poor reveal the reasons behind these devotions.

During the persecutions of the Emperor Valerian in 258 A.D., numerous priests and deacons were put to death and wealthier Christians had their wealth confiscated and were forced into exile. Pope Sixtus II was one of the first victims of this persecution, being beheaded on August 6.  According to the writings of St. Ambrose, as Pope Sixtus was being lead to his death, Lawrence met him and asked: “Where are you going, my dear father, without your son? Where are you hurrying off to, holy priest, without your deacon? Before you never mounted the altar of sacrifice without your servant, and now you wish to do it without me?” The Pope assured him that: “after three days you will follow me.”

After the death of Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence hand over the riches of the Church.  Lawrence asked for three days to gather together the wealth.  On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect.  When ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering, and said: “these are the true treasures of the Church.”

The prefect was angered by his perception of the saint’s flippancy, so he ordered that Lawrence die by being placed on a gridiron and “grilled” to death.  St. Ambrose relates that during his torture Lawrence cried out “This side’s done, turn me over and eat.” (Assum est, inquit, versa et manduca.)  As a result of his death and his courage, St. Lawrence is considered the patron saint of chefs.  He is also a patron saint of deacons and comedians (!).

Since the Perseid Meteor Shower typically occurs on or near Saint Lawrence’s feast day, some refer to the shower as the “Tears of Saint Lawrence.”