Cardinal DiNardo to Preside at Mass Celebrating the Canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta (1)
September 2, 2016
ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON-HOUSTON
For immediate release
WHAT: Houston-area Catholics Celebrate the Canonization of Mother Teresa
WHEN: 9 a.m. Procession, 9:30 a.m. Mass - Monday, Sept. 5, 2016
WHERE: Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston
CONTACT: Catherine Rogan, Media Relations Manager, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
713- 652-8213 (office) or 713-515-6054 (cell), crogan@archgh.org
Houston – At 9:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 5, 2016, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo along with Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will join together at a Mass celebration in commemoration of the Canonization of Mother Teresa. The Mass will be held at the Co- Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, 1111 St. Joseph Parkway in Houston. Preceding the Mass, at 9 a.m., there will be a colorful, traditional Indian procession in honor of Blessed Mother Teresa.
On Sunday, Sept. 4, Pope Francis will canonize Blessed Mother Teresa at the Vatican – the day before the 19th anniversary of her death. Monday, Sept. 5 will be the first Feast Day of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
During her lifetime, Mother Teresa was widely known as a living saint as she ministered to the sick and the dying in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the world. Her simple service touched the hearts of millions of people of all faiths.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity. Through this her legacy continues and includes nearly 5,000 religious sisters, homes for the poor, the disabled, and the elderly on every continent, an order of priests, and innumerable volunteers known as Lay Missionaries. Following Mother Teresa’s example, they continue to touch the lives of hundreds of thousands people across the world.
“St. Teresa of Calcutta was an example of someone with incredible faith living a Christian life to its fullest,” said Cardinal DiNardo. “She reached out to the poorest of the poor, to people who were considered the outcasts of society. Her work and the work of the Missionaries of Charity touched the heart of people across the world.”
“It is fitting that Pope Francis is Canonizing St. Teresa of Calcutta during the Jubilee Year of Mercy during which he has called for us to reach out to the poor and marginalized,and to perform acts of mercy and charity,” added Cardinal DiNardo.
The Mass is organized by the Missionaries of Charity of Houston in conjunction with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
About St. Teresa of Calcutta
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 to an ethnic Albanian family in Skopje, in what is now part of Macedonia, Mother Teresa went to India as a Sister of Loreto in 1929. Receiving what she described as a “call within a call,” she began her missionary work with the poor and laid the foundation for what would become the Missionaries of Charity.
Following her death in 1997, St. John Paul II waived the usual five-year waiting period and allowed the opening of the process to declare her sainthood. She was beatified in 2003. Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Teresa, thus paving the way for her canonization.
Sept. 4, the date chosen for her canonization, is the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death and the date previously established at the Vatican for the conclusion of the Year of Mercy pilgrimage of people like her, who are engaged in works of mercy.
It is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in Texas and the 5th largest in the United States.