Vatican City: Sainthood may be finally bestowed on Mother Teresa of Calcutta if the Vatican accepts as miracle the scientifically inexplicable healing of a Brazilian man suffering from a malignant brain tumor
A diocesan process is underway in Santos, in the state of São Paulo, for the prodigious event that is said to have taken place and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is gathering proof, medical reports and eyewitness testimonies, Vatican Insider reports.
The Vatican received messages from all over the world pointing out miracles attributed to the intercession of the naturalized Indian nun of Albanian origin who founded the Missionaries of Charity.
The most striking miracle of all, however, is the one involving the complete recovery of a Catholic of Santos diocese, whose CAT scans suddenly and inexplicably showed that the large cancerous tumor that had developed in his brain had completely disappeared after praying intensely to Mother Teresa.
The Vatican has decided to look into this particular miracle further as it has the best chances of approval.
Twelve years have passed since the beatification of the “apostle of the ordinary” in a ceremony celebrated by John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square. The process, which led to the recognition of her heroic virtues and the first miracle that was required in order for her to be proclaimed a Blessed, had been opened less than two years after her death because of her widespread fame of holiness.
Missionaries of Charity Father Brian Kolodiejchuk was postulator for the beatification cause.
Mother Teresa was born to Albanian parents in Skopje on August 26, 1910, but spent most of her life in India caring for the most marginalized among the poor, in response to Jesus’ call: “Come, be my light.”
She founded the Congregation for the Missionaries of Charity and later the Missionaries of Charity Brothers. Mother Teresa never stopped guiding her congregation and responding to the needs of the poor and the Church, even toward the end of her life when she faced serious health problems.
In 1997, there were more than 4,000 Mother Teresa sisters residing in the 610 missionary houses spread across 123 countries.
In March 1997 the “poor people’s saint” blessed the newly-elected Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity and paid one more trip abroad.
After meeting John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent the final weeks of her life receiving visitors and instructing fellow sisters.
She died in Calcutta on September 5, 1997. She was granted a state funeral by the Indian government and was buried in the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity. Her tomb immediately became a pilgrimage and prayer destination for people of every faith, both rich and poor.
Mother Teresa left behind a legacy of unshakeable faith, indestructible hope and extraordinary charity. Spiritually, her canonization would mark the most poignant moment of the extraordinary Holy Year which opens on December 8 and concludes on November 20, 2016.
On his visit to Tirana on September 21, 2014, Pope Francis told the interpreter about the time he met Mother Teresa of Calcutta during the 1994 Synod.
The Blessed Mother Teresa from Skopje, born Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was a woman who was never phased, not even by the Synod assembly. “She always spoke her mind,” Francis confided to the priest acting as interpreter during the trip to Albania.
The director of the Holy See Press Office revealed this during a press conference in Tirana.
“She sat right behind me during the sessions. I admired her strength, the determinedness with which she spoke, never letting herself be fazed by the assembly of bishops. She said what she wanted to say” Pope Francis said before adding with a smile on his face: “If she had been my superior I would have been scared.”