Blessed Teresa of Calcutta-Feast Day September 5th: Teresa was born Gonxha Agnes BojaxhiuSkopje in the Ottoman empire in 1910 to Albanian parents. At the age of 18 she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary and was placed in an abbey in Ireland,it was here she took the nameSister Mary Teresa.1929 Teresa travelled to India for the first time and began her novitiate in Darjeeling.In 1937 she took her solemn vows while teaching at a Loreto convent school in Calcutta it was here she became known as Mother Teresa .She taught atgirls school for 20 yearsincreasingly disturbedthe surrounding poverty and illness in Calcutta and1946 went on to experience what she referred to as «The call within the Call».The call from God to aid the poorest of the poor. In 1948 she adopted Indian citizenship underwent basic medical training and ventured in to the slums. In 1950 Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charitiesreligious congregation who opened hospitals and residences for those with serious illnesses ,foundedmobile clinics ,orphanages ,soup kitchens and schools. The foundation spread rapidly throughout the globe and in 1996 Mother Teresa was operating 516 missions in a 100 different countries. Teresa died in 1997 in Calcutta from cardiac failure she was 87 years old. This wonderful soul of God was beatified in 2003 and her canonizationscheduled foryearon September 4th.
The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary-Feast Day September 8th. The Church has celebrated the birth of Marysince the 6th century . Scripturedoes not give an account of her actual birth, but the apocryphal ProtoevangeliumJames 5.2the gap. According to this accountand JoachimMarys parents are infertile and they pray to God for a child. They are visited by an angelreceive a promise of a verychild that would play a great part in Gods plan for theof mankind. Both parents arecitizens,loyal to Godwhen the baby Mary arrived as God had promised they dedicate her to God. Marybeen especially chosen from the very beginning through divine providence to be the pure and holy vessel that would carry Gods son andlike her future husband Joseph she is descended from the line of King David.the very time of her Immaculate conception she is void of any sin and remains so for the rest of her life. Due to her purity and her special role as the Mother of God she is taken up to heaven body and soul to sit beside her son where she reigns as QueenHeavenMother of the Universal Church. Closer to her son than any human being she is our greatest intercessor, Mary never refuses anyone who seeks her intercession throughHoly Rosary.
St Nicholas of Tolentino-Feast Day September 10th . Nicholaswas born in 1245 in San Angelo in Italywas named after Saint Nicholas of Myrawhose shrine his parents had prayed for a child. At the age of 18 he became anfriar7 years later was ordained as a priest. In 1274experienced a series of visions of reciting angels who directed him to the city of Tolentino.Gods call heto minister to the parishTolentino andthererest of his life. Nicholas was a wonderful preacher and confessor and reached out to the poor, sick and those who had adopted a criminal lifestyle.Many miracles are attributed to him, he is said to have healed the sick withover which he prayed to the Mother of God.also received visions of the souls in purgatory and constantly prayed for them. For this reason1884 he was proclaimed the Patron of «The Souls in Purgatory «by Pope Leo XIII. All Souls day holds a special significance to his devotees. Towards the end of his life he suffered greatly but still continued the mortifications which had been part of his holy life. He died in September1305 and was the first Augustinian to be canonized in 1446 by Pope Eugene IV.
