There are many things about Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta that
could be called heroic – her tireless service to the world's most
rejected and her courageous witness to millions of what it is to live
the Gospel, just to name a couple. But the priest charged with overseeing her path to sainthood said
that for him, one thing stands out above all the rest: her experience of
spiritual darkness and what she described as feeling totally abandoned
by God for the majority of her life. “The single most heroic thing is exactly her darkness. That pure
living, that pure, naked faith,” Fr. Brian Kolodiejchuk, the postulator
for Mother Teresa's canonization cause, told CNA in an interview. Fr.
Kolodiejchuk is a priest of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers, founded
by Mother Teresa in 1989. By undergoing the depth and duration of the desolation she
experienced and doing everything that she did for others in spite of it,
“that's really very heroic,” he said. Pope Francis recently approved the second and last miracle needed in
order to declare Mother Teresa a saint, and has set the date of her
canonization for Sept. 4, 2016 – the day before her feast day. Read more here.
Finding St Anthony Among the Lost Items
Saint Anthony of Padua, though often associated with finding lost articles, was primarily known in his lifetime as a powerful and eloquent preacher. Originally a Canon Regular of St. Augustine, he was inspired to join the newly formed Franciscan order after witnessing the martyrdom of the first Franciscan missionaries in Morocco. His conversion to the mendicant life under St. Francis of Assisi transformed him, deepening his commitment to poverty, humility, and evangelical preaching. Gifted with profound theological knowledge and a captivating speaking style, he traveled across Italy and France, drawing immense crowds with his clear and passionate sermons, converting many and combating heresy with his unwavering faith and intellectual rigor. Beyond his public ministry, St. Anthony was a mystic who enjoyed profound spiritual experiences, most notably a vision of the Infant Jesus. This intimate connection with the Christ Child is a hallmark of his iconography, often depicting him c...
