Blessed Mother Teresa

A saint is a disciple of Jesus Christ, who lived a life of extraordinary fidelity to Him. The Saints are people who were united to God in this life and who strove to do His will in everything, devoting themselves to the glory of God and to the service of their neighbor. They lived the virtues to a heroic degree and give us shining examples of: faith, hope, and love, both of God and every human being; prudence (or practical wisdom), justice, fortitude (or courage), and temperance (or self-mastery); detachment, purity, and obedience; humility, simplicity and magnanimity. Each saint is distinguished for particular virtue and for this reason, the Church proposes them as friends and companions in our  following of Christ, as models to imitate, and as intercessors with God.   
Mother Teresa was known around the world for her whole-hearted and free service to the poorest of the poor, a virtue which lifted the hearts of many to God and inspired many to imitate her.

The canonization of a saint is a solemn act by which the Pope, the supreme authority in the Catholic Church, declares that a person practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, is with God in heaven and is to be venerated throughout the whole Church. The Pope enrolls the person on the list of Saints. Another word for list is “canon,” hence the term “canonization.” The expression, “raised to the altars,” often used as an equivalent of “canonization,” means that the person is assigned a feast day in the yearly schedule of the Church’s liturgical celebrations. This assigning of a feast day is done at the time of beatification.

Beatification is a step in the process of canonization. By it the Pope allows public veneration of the person in the local Church, within the religious congregation with which he or she was associated, and in other places by those who receive such permission. Note the difference: a Saint should be honored in liturgical celebrations by the universal, that is, the whole Church, whereas a “Blessed” may be so honored in certain places.

The Church distinguishes between the cult of a Blessed and that of a Saint. The act of beatification provides the faithful the opportunity to offer public veneration to a Blessed within set limits. The Missionaries of Charity hope that devotion expressed in faithful observance of these norms will also serve to increase the prayer of the faithful imploring the canonization of Blessed Teresa.

For DIOCESES which have requested and received the approval of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments (CDWDS) to inscribe Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in their local Diocesan Liturgical Calendar and for MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY in those Dioceses

Permission for public cult includes the following:

• The liturgical celebration of Blessed Teresa on 5 September is observed by the Missionaries of Charity as a “feast”; for all others the celebration is observed as an “optional memorial”.

• The Opening Prayer of the Mass (approved by the CDWDS and available through the local bishop) is proper to Blessed Teresa. All other prayers and the readings are taken from the Common of Virgins or Holy Women. (For the Liturgical Texts: View the section of : Prayer/Liturgical Prayer-Feast)

• A votive Mass (using the Opening Prayer of the feast) may be offered on days on which votive Masses are allowed. The readings for the Liturgy of the Word may be taken from the day or from the Common of Virgins or Holy Women (see Introduction to the Lectionary for precise guidelines).

• The Liturgy of the Hours may be celebrated in Blessed Teresa’s honor on 5 September. Until canonization, everything is taken from the Common of Virgins or Holy Women, except the concluding prayer of Morning and Evening Prayer (which is the same as the Opening Prayer for the Mass) and the second reading in the Office of Readings.

• The relics of Blessed Teresa may be exposed in a suitable place in churches or chapels.

1. The relic may be placed in a secure reliquary on a stand or in the wall or mounted on the wall or in a shrine. It may be placed in the sanctuary, at a side altar or in another part of the church or chapel.
2. If it is placed in the sanctuary, the relic may not be on top of the altar (mensa) or next to the tabernacle. (If the relic is a sizable body part, it may with permission be placed under the altar. In the case of Blessed Teresa, however, no large body parts are available.) The relic cannot seem to rival the tabernacle or the main altar.

      Its placement or decoration should not make it seem that the relic is equal in    importance to the Blessed Sacrament or the altar on which the Mass is offered.

1. Special opportunities for veneration of the relic or programs of prayer in which the relic will be venerated may be publicized. This includes programs sponsored by the Missionaries of Charity.
2. An image (statue, painting or drawing) of Blessed Teresa may be placed in a church or chapel.
3. Devotion to Blessed Teresa may be fostered.
4. Hymns may be sung in her honor.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, longing to love Jesus as He had never been loved before, you gave yourself entirely to Him, refusing Him nothing. In union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, you accepted His call to satiate His infinite thirst for love and souls and become a carrier of His love to the poorest of the poor. With loving trust and total surrender you fulfilled His will, witnessing to the joy of belonging totally to Him. You became so intimately united to Jesus your crucified Spouse that He deigned to share with you the agony of His Heart as He hung upon the Cross.

Blessed Teresa, you promised to continuously bring the light of love to those on earth; pray for us that we also may long to satiate the burning thirst of Jesus by loving Him ardently, sharing in His sufferings joyfully, and serving Him wholeheartedly in our brothers and sisters, especially those most unloved and unwanted. Amen

Jesus, you made Blessed Teresa an inspiring example of firm faith and burning charity, an extraordinary witness to the way of spiritual childhood, and a great and esteemed teacher of the value and dignity of every human life. Grant that she may be venerated and imitated as one of the Church's canonized saints.
Hear the requests of all those who seek her intercession, especially the petition I now implore... (mention here the favour you wish to pray for).

May we follow her example in heeding Your cry of thirst from the Cross and joyfully loving You in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor, especially those most unloved and unwanted.

We ask this in Your name and through the intercession of Mary, Your Mother and the Mother of us all.
Amen.