Today, October 19, is the anniversary of the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose life was "a bold proclamation of the Gospel", as the Pope wrote in proclaiming her blessed.  AsiaNews offers its readers, in memory of this "mother of the poor", the last letter written to her sister Missionaries of Charity.  The letter is dated September 5, 1997, just a few hours before her death.   It is the text that the Church has chosen for the Liturgy of the Hours of the feast day of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (September 5).

My dearest Children,

This brings you Mother's love, prayer and blessing that each one of you may be only all for Jesus through Mary. I know that Mother says often – "be only all for Jesus through Mary" – but that is because that is all Mother wants for you, all Mother wants from you. If in your heart you are only all for Jesus through Mary, and if you do everything only all for Jesus through Mary, you will be a true Missionary of Charity.

Thank you for all the loving wishes you sent for the Society Feast. We have much to thank God for, especially that He has given us Our Lady's spirit to be the spirit of our Society. Loving Trust and Total Surrender made Our Lady say "Yes" to the message of the angel, and Cheerfulness made her to run in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth. That is so much our life – saying "Yes" to Jesus and running in haste to serve Him in the poorest of the poor. Let us keep close to Our Lady and she will make that same spirit grow in each one of us.

September 10th* is coming very close. That is another beautiful chance for us to stand near Our Lady, to listen to Thirst of Jesus and to answer with our whole heart. It is only with Our Lady that we can hear Jesus cry, "I Thirst", and it is only with Our Lady that we can thank God properly for giving this great gift to our Society. Last year was the Golden Jubilee of Inspiration Day, and I hope that the whole year has been one of thanksgiving. We will never come to the end of the gift that came to Mother for the Society on that day, and so we must never stop thanking for it. Let our gratitude be our strong resolution to quench the Thirst of Jesus by lives of real charity – love for Jesus in prayer, love for Jesus in our Sisters, love for Jesus in the poorest of the poor – nothing else.

And now I have heard that Jesus is giving us one more gift. This year, one hundred years after she went home to Jesus, Holy Father is declaring Little Flower to be a Doctor of the Church. Can you imagine – for doing little things with great love the Church is making her a Doctor, like St. Augustine and the big St. Teresa! It is just like Jesus said in the Gospel to the one who was seated in the lowest place, "Friends, come up higher." So let us keep very small and follow Little Flower's way of trust and love and joy, and we will fulfil Mother's promise to give saints to mother Church.

* On 10 September 1946 during the train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, Mother Teresa received her "inspiration," her "call within a call": service of the poorest of the poor.

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