Mother Teresa's Tool of Charity

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, renowned for the worldwide mission of charity that she began in 1948, used a simple "tool" as a symbol of that charity: the "Miraculous Medal."

A common sight it was to watch Mother take a fistful of such medals, kiss them, and hand them out to the poor. Queues of people would form outside her convents, when word would spread that Mother Teresa had come to town. One by one she would welcome young and old, the sick and the needy, lay and clergy, the significant and the insignificant. Rarely would any leave without Mother pressing Miraculous Medals into their hands.

On her last visit to the South Bronx of New York in June 1997, sitting in a wheelchair less than three months before her death, Mother cradled a full basket of these medals on her lap. Her sisters kept refilling the basket as Mother gave sizeable quantities to each priest greeting her after Mass. Noteworthy was the reverence with which she handled these religious sacramentals, and the earnestness with which she suggested they be used as tools for spreading the gospel message of love.

Why did Mother Teresa pass out Miraculous Medals? What are they? What connection do they have to the work of her sisters, the Missionaries of Charity (whom Mother affectionately called MCs)? Since Mother herself oversaw the yearly distribution of tens of thousands of Miraculous Medals in the final decade of her life, and since her MCs continue to circulate 1.8 million Miraculous Medals annually, a brief look at this phenomenon seems well indicated.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, so that the thirst of Jesus might be satisfied and his world become something beautiful for God, a kingdom of love, where you, O Mary Mother of Jesus, can be a mother to me and to all, now and forever, Amen.

This text was written by Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv. in honor of the beatification of Mother Teresa, October 19, 2003.

With ecclesiastical approval, Archdiocese of New York