‘We will go to the stations to look for the poor to remember Mother Teresa’

The superior of the Missionaries of Charity tells how the sisters around the world will remember the 25th anniversary of the foundress’s death, which falls on September 5. And tomorrow a new center for street children will open on Park Street in Calcutta. “Pray that we can carry on Mother Teresa’s legacy: to do all the good we can out of love for God and for our brothers and sisters.”

Calcutta () – Monday, September 5, marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionaries of Charity, icon of a life entirely dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor in India in the name of the Gospel. A woman of impossible borders who crossed in the name of charity, she was proclaimed Blessed by John Paul II in 2003 and Saint by Pope Francis in 2016. Even today her testimony lives on in the most forgotten peripheries of all continents through the work – often hidden – of nuns in a white sari trimmed in blue. That is why we publish from Calcutta this message from the Superior of the Missionaries of Charity, Sr. María José, who tells how their communities will experience such an important anniversary these days.

Many have asked us how we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death.

In prayer and discernment we have decided to remember him in the way that she probably would have wanted. In homage to this 25th anniversary of the Mother, all over the world our sisters will go looking for the poorest of the poor in the streets, in the stations… wherever they are alone and abandoned.

Here in Calcutta we have two communities, each made up of four sisters who walk the streets every day with packed food and clothes, meeting those in need wherever they are. For those who are very sick, we bring them to our homes to attend to their essential needs, such as the possibility of bathing, changing clothes, a good meal or, if necessary, hospitalization.

At Park Street, in one of our communities, we are opening a space for children who live on the streets and cannot go to school. We will offer them a bath, a change of clothes, a glass of milk and cookies, and we will teach them to draw and write. We will start this activity precisely on September 5, 2022.

The poor are always among us to love and serve them, the different political situations have never influenced our work.

In Calcutta we have houses for abandoned men and women that we collected from the street. Our houses are completely full of people right now. We are looking for ways to rehabilitate these people. With the help of social workers, we try to locate their families and reunite them, if they agree. In our homes we serve children and adults with physical and mental problems. In many of our houses we have patients suffering from leprosy and tuberculosis and that is why their families continue to abandon them.

Both in India and in any other country, our sisters regularly visit families, especially the elderly and those in prisons or hospitals, the most abandoned and those who are alone, bringing new hope into their lives. Immediate emergency assistance to victims of various natural disasters has always been our priority. Even outside of India we have houses where we care, both materially and spiritually, for the poorest of the poor, the most rejected by society, those who live on the streets, alcoholics… The night shelters and the soup kitchens are open for those most in need, along with the night apostolate, when the sisters bring food rations to those who would end the day hungry.

Mother Teresa often reminded us that “we cannot do great things, but only small things with a lot of love.” Pray that we may continue this legacy of our dear Mother and Foundress: to do all the good we can for love of God and our brothers and sisters, regardless of caste or creed, offering them our free service wholeheartedly.

God bless you.

Hna. Maria Jose

superior general of the Missionaries of Charity

(with the collaboration of Nirmala Carvalho)

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