Mother Teresa
Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and missionary (1910–1997)
Feast: 5 September (current Roman calendar, optional memoriala) · not in the 1962 Missal
The Vatican record
- 17 December 2015 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2015)
Who they were
Gonxha Agnes was born in Skopje on 26 August 1910. She left home in September 1928 to become a religious sister and arrived in Calcutta on 6 January 1929.
On 10 September 1946, on a train to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, she received what she called a call within a call: to serve the poorest of the poor. The Missionaries of Charity were founded in Calcutta on 7 October 1950. She died in Calcutta on 5 September 1997 and was given a state funeral by the Government of India.
The miracles
Monica Besra — South Dinajpur, West Bengal, India — September 1998
A young woman came to a Missionaries of Charity home with a large abdominal tumour that treatment had not helped. On the eve of the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death, a sister tied a medal touched to Mother Teresa's body on her abdomen and prayed. Monica said that when she woke in the night her stomach was flat, the tumour gone and the pain with it. The cure was contested: a doctor who had treated her said medicine was responsible, and an Indian rationalist group rejected the miracle.
Marcilio Haddad Andrino — Santos, Brazil — 9 December 2008
A Brazilian man was diagnosed in October 2008 with eight abscesses on the brain and a build-up of fluid. On 9 December he woke with a severe headache and asked his wife to pray to Mother Teresa. He was taken into the operating theatre but woke there at peace and free of pain; tests found the abscesses reduced by about 70 per cent and the fluid gone. Doctors had told the couple that his treatment would leave them unable to have children; his wife later became pregnant.
Why that counted as sanctity
On 20 December 2002 the Church declared that this life showed the Christian virtues to a heroic degree, and gave the title Venerable. The case of Monica Besra was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 20 December 2002, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 19 October 2003 by John Paul II. The case of Marcilio Haddad Andrino was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 17 December 2015, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 4 September 2016 by Francis.
Connected on this site
- Francis Xavier Saint“Her authorized biography, written by Navin Chawla, was published in 1992, and on 6 September 2017, she was named a co-patron of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta alongside St Francis Xavier.” — Wikipedia
- Teresa Maria Manetti Blessed“As Mother Teresa Maria of the Cross she founded the Carmelites of St Teresa.” — this site's research
- Anzelm Gądek Servant of God“In 1921, with the Servant of God Mother Teresa of Saint Joseph, he founded the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of the Child Jesus.” — this site's research
- Holy See - biography for the beatification, 19 Oct 2003
- Holy See - homily of Pope Francis at the canonisation, 4 Sep 2016
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - decree of 17 Dec 2015
- Matters India, Aug 2016 - Monica Besra on her cure (includes the objections)
- EWTN News / CNA - 'I was sure that it was Mother Teresa who healed me'
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q30547 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Mother Teresa (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.