Mother Teresa, who was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016, died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87.
Her final letter, addressed to the religious organization she founded, Missionaries of Charity, was written on the morning of the day she died. Today it is part of the lectoral service, read and reflected upon each year on September 5 as part of the Liturgy of the Hours.
In this letter, Mother Teresa offers a glimpse into her spiritual life near the end of her life and shares her hopes for the future with her community.
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“In her final letter, Mother Teresa summed up much of her life's work from the perspective of the Virgin Mary,” Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, a Dominican friar in Washington, told Fox News Digital this week.
“Is it surprising that a saint who was a mother to many should have so much respect for and imitated the Mother of Christ?”
In her final words, Mother Teresa conveyed a message of hope to her followers. (Tim Graham/Getty Images)
In a letter to her “beloved children,” Mother Teresa encouraged the community to “devote themselves solely to Jesus through Mary.”
In Catholicism, Mary is worshipped, and without her, Jesus would not have existed.
Because she was Jesus' mother, she had a relationship with him that was unlike any other.
“No one on earth loved Jesus more or served him more than Mary,” Father Jeffrey Kirby, priest of the Diocese of Charleston, told Fox News Digital.
“Thus, Mother Teresa directs us to Mary and calls us to imitate her faith, her selfless service, her love and her cheerfulness.”
On this day in history, September 4, 2016, Mother Teresa was canonized as “the generous dispenser of Divine mercy.”
She wrote that emulating Mary's faith and deep love for Christ is “all that a mother would want for you, all that she would expect from you.”
“If in your heart you believe only in Jesus through Mary, and if you do everything for only Jesus through Mary, you will be a true missionary of love,” she said.
Mother Teresa wrote that the Order had “much to thank God for, especially that he gave us the spirit of the Virgin Mary as the spirit of our society,” and reminded the Order that a large part of their life was saying “yes” to Jesus and “running quickly to serve Jesus among the poorest of the poor.”
Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. She was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016. (Keystone Features/Getty Images)
She reflected on the approaching anniversary of the founding of Missionaries of Charity and expressed gratitude for all that has been accomplished during the year.
“Let our gratitude be a firm commitment to quench Jesus' thirst with true charity. Let us love Jesus in our prayers, love Jesus in our nuns, love Jesus in the poorest people and nothing else,” she said.
Mother Teresa's condition worsened and she passed away before the letter could be signed, her successor, Sister Nirmala Joshi, superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote underneath the letter.
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“This was Our Lady's last letter and was ready to be signed. However, it remained unsigned as Jesus suddenly came to take our beloved Lady away,” wrote Nun Nirmala Joshi.
“I send this to you with great love. This is the last message our mother left us. Let us bear this in our hearts with much love and prayers.”
According to the Nobel Peace Prize website, Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonše Vojaciu in the area now known as Skope in North Macedonia and was of Albanian descent.
She first felt a vocation to religious life during her adolescence and in September 1928, at the age of 18, she left home for Ireland and entered the Sisters of Loreto.
The Loreto Sisters gave the teenage Agnes the religious name “Sister Mary Teresa,” in honor of Saint Therese of Lisieux, according to the Vatican website.
The religious organization founded by Mother Teresa, Missionaries of Charity, operates around the world and continues to serve the poorest people today. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A little over a year after arriving in Ireland, she was sent to live with one of the Sisters of Loreto. Mission in IndiaA country that has become her second home.
According to the Vatican website, she took her first vows in May 1931 and was assigned to the Sisters of Loreto in Calcutta.
She took her final vows at the Loreto Convent in 1937 and became known as “Mother Teresa.”
In 1948, Mother Teresa left the Loreto Sisters and began working to found a new religious community, the Missionaries of Charity.
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“On August 17, 1948, for the first time, donning her white-and-blue-bordered sari, she passed through the gates of her beloved Loreto Convent and stepped into the world of the poor,” the Vatican website said.
Just four months later, Mother Teresa had her first encounter with what would become her life's work.
“On December 21, she went to the slums for the first time. She visited her family, did her laundry, Children's woundsAccording to the Vatican website, “the bishop cared for elderly people who lay sick in the streets and nursed women who were dying of hunger and tuberculosis.”
On September 4, 2016, Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa as “Saint Teresa of Calcutta.” (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1950, the Missionaries of Charity were formally recognized to operate within the Archdiocese of Calcutta.
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“Our community is committed to serving the poorest of the poor, regardless of social class, creed or skin color,” the order's website states.
Today, Missionaries of Charity are present all over the world with over 5,000 members.
“We are intentionally demonstrating God's care for the poorest and most lowly, remaining on the ground to provide immediate and effective services to those in need until they find someone who can help them in a better, more lasting way.”
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Today, Missionaries of Charity are present all over the world with over 5,000 members.
