Feast Day of St. Teresa of Calcutta Officially Inscribed in Roman Calendar

Vatican City, February 12, 2025 – The Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments released a decree on Tuesday, officially inscribing the feast day of St. Teresa of Calcutta into the General Roman Calendar.The decree, released by Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery, includes the official liturgical texts in Latin for use in the celebration of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours on her feast day. The Vatican decree specifies that her feast day will be observed as an optional liturgical memorial on September 5, the anniversary of her passing in 1997.

Speaking during the release of the decree, Cardinal Roche stated that Pope Francis requested the inscription of St. Teresa's feast day in response to numerous petitions from bishops, religious communities, and the lay faithful who wished to see her legacy honoured universally.

Renowned for her tireless service to the poorest of the poor, St. Teresa professed her solemn vows as a Sister of Loreto in Calcutta, India, in 1937. In 1950, she left the Sisters of Loreto to establish the Missionaries of Charity, an order dedicated to serving the destitute. Today, the congregation has grown to over 6,000 sisters working in 130 countries.

Her extraordinary humanitarian work earned her global recognition, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II on October 19, 2003, and canonised by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016, during the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

During the announcement, Cardinal Roche praised St. Teresa as “a beacon of hope, small in stature but immense in love.” He also described her as a defender of human dignity, particularly of those who have been abandoned or marginalised, even “in the hiddenness of the womb.” He emphasised that her life of holiness and spirituality provides the faithful with an “outstanding witness to hope for those discarded by society.”

Regarding the liturgical texts released for her feast day, Cardinal Roche noted that the Collect prayer highlights the presence of the Cross of Christ in the suffering of the poor. The First Reading, he added, taken from the book of Isaiah, focuses on the “fast that is pleasing to God,” while the Gospel passage emphasises how the mysteries of the Kingdom of God are revealed to the humble and little ones.

He also revealed that the Liturgy of the Hours includes an excerpt from a letter St. Teresa wrote in 1960 to Fr. Joseph Neuner, in which she reflected on her profound spiritual struggle—what St. John of the Cross termed the “Dark Night of the Soul.” Cardinal Roche described this as her experience of “the darkness of God’s absence,” which she endured with unwavering faith and offered to God so that many souls might find light and hope.

With her name now enshrined in the Roman Calendar, the Church formally honours St. Teresa of Calcutta as a universal model of faith, compassion, and selfless service, ensuring that her witness to love and mercy continues to inspire generations to come.

Courtesy: Vatican News