Memories of a saint

“I remember when Mother Teresa would come to the parish she would give us candies,” Father Kuruvila said. “Of course she wasn’t well known or famous back then. It was only after she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 people became aware of her. “

In May 1964, Mother Teresa came to the state of Kerala—Father Kuruvila’s home—to establish a new house for her Missionaries of Charity. It so happened that a man who worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta recommended she contact Father Anthony Manipadam, a Jesuit priest and Father Kuruvila’s uncle, for help and she stayed at his home.

It was the beginning of a longstanding relationship between the Kuruvila family and Mother Teresa. 

Mother Teresa was born on Aug. 26, 1910 in Skopje in modern Macedonia. At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in India to operate hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchen; dispensaries; mobile clinics; children’s family counseling programs; orphanages; and schools.

Two of Father Kuruvila’s aunts from Kerala had gone to Calcutta in 1954 to join Mother Teresa’s congregation. In 1961, his sister also entered the convent for the Missionaries of Charity. Later 10 other local girls joined the congregation.

“So Mother Teresa came often to my home parish visiting the families of the girls who joined,” Father Kuruvila said. “When my sister wanted to join the convent of Mother Teresa, my dad didn’t want my sister to leave the family. She was the first-born and he loved her very much. He asked her to wait and consider and pray. About a year later, she still wanted to enter Mother Teresa’s order.”

Their father recognized that “It must be God’s Plan” and he took his daughter to Calcutta. Mother Teresa met them at the train station and christened her Sister Alphonsa, which pleased her father greatly because that was the name of the first saint from India. St. Alphonsa actually taught Father Kuruvila’s mother in elementary school. So his parents had a great devotion to St. Alphonsa. Her father died before Sister Alphonsa made her vows.
 

Father Prince Kuruvila's sister, Sister Alphonsa with  and Mother Theresa. Contributed photo

“My sister, who later became the superior of the novices in Calcutta, was a very outspoken person,” Father Kuruvila said. “After being there for quite sometime she missed all our siblings. There were eight of us, five boys and three girls, and of course she missed our mother. She wanted to come home for a visit, but the congregation’s rule was one visit every 10-years.”

The high-spirited Sister Alphonsa wrote to Mother Teresa questioning that rule to which Mother Teresa replied, “I too miss my family and desire to see them, but it has been over 40-years since I have seen them. Remember, Sister Alphonsa, we both committed our lives to Jesus.” 

After becoming a Jesuit priest, Father Kuruvila was studying for his masters in theology in Rome. He often celebrated Mass at Mother Teresa’s convent. When Mother Teresa was there she expected no special treatment, no special seat at Mass. She took the Eucharist in line with all the other nuns.

“It was only because I already knew her that I was aware of her presence. I recall an occasion after Mass while having breakfast, Mother Teresa sent a nun to me to make sure that I was comfortable and had everything I needed. Such was her concern and thoughtfulness towards priests,” he said.

Once, while visiting his sister in Calcutta, he announced his departure after having celebrated Mass. Mother Teresa said, “Father, you must bless us before you leave.” 
“For her a priest’s blessing was Jesus’ blessing. It was a great honor for me to have blessed Mother Teresa,” Father Kuruvila said.

In the town of Kalight near Calcutta there is a hospice for the sick, destitute and the dying started by Mother Teresa in 1952. Before Mother Teresa sought permission to use it, the building was an old abandoned Hindu temple. The Hindus, under the leadership of a Hindu priest, protested because they feared Mother Teresa would convert all the Hindus to Christianity. Mother Teresa did not respond. She continued her service to the poor.
 

When Father Kuruvila’s father died, Mother Teresa sent this handwritten letter to his mother. Sister Alphonsa was in the novitiate in Calcutta and could not come home. A few years later when Mother Theresa visited the area, she went to the family’s home to console the family. Contributed photo

Later the Hindu priest who had protested was infected with leprosy. He was rejected by his Hindu community. Then Mother Teresa accepted him to her hospice and took care of him. By seeing her compassionate and forgiving heart towards the Hindu priest, the Hindus said that Mother Teresa must be the incarnation of their Goddess Kali. After that Hindu people in Calcutta honored Mother Teresa and her nuns as they honored their Goddess Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Time and Change.

“Mother Teresa was the human icon of the Divine Mercy.” Father Kuruvila said. “She loved the poorest of the poor, and was always compassionate to the needy.  She saw Jesus in everyone even in people who belonged to other religions. She surrendered her life to Jesus and the poor. She loved the Blessed Virgin Mary. The blue border on her sari is the symbol of her love for the Blessed Mother.

Whenever Mother Teresa met someone she would make the sign of the cross on their forehead saying, ‘May God Bless You.’ She greeted everyone this way and gave them a miraculous medal of Blessed Virgin Mary. It is with very tender feelings that I remember her blessings to me.”

On Oct. 19, 2003, Mather Teresa was beatified as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. In December 2015, Pope Francis accepted a second miracle resulting from her intercession, paving the way for her to be recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her canonization is scheduled for Sept. 4.