Saint Teresa of Calcutta, foundress of the Missionaries of Charity, was canonized today by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square. Most remembered for her work with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, Mother Teresa had much to say about the importance of traditional marriage and family life.

Meditate on the images of this great saint and contemplate the wisdom of her words. The multiplicity of our words would only detract from the beauty and simplicity of hers. It is our prayer that you will be richly blessed by these images and words.

“It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. Bring love into your home, for this is where our love for each other must start.”

 “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do…but how much love we put in that action.”

“The way you help heal the world is that you start with your own family.”

“Love begins by taking care of the closest ones – the ones at home.”

“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

 

Prayer for Our Family

Heavenly Father, you have given us the model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth. Help us, O Loving Father, to make our family another Nazareth where love, peace and joy reign. May it be deeply contemplative, intensely Eucharistic, revived with joy. Help us to stay together in joy and sorrow in family prayer. Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families, especially in their distressing disguise. May the Eucharistic heart of Jesus make our hearts humble like His and help us to carry out our family duties in a holy way. May we love one another as God loves each one of us, more and more each day, and forgive each other’s faults as you forgive our sins. Help us, O Loving Father, to take whatever you give and give whatever you take with a big smile. Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cause of our Joy, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. Holy Guardian Angels, be always with us, guide and protect us. Amen.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta