Catholics here met Mother Teresa

While Mother Teresa never visited the Albany Diocese, Catholics from here encountered her several times in recent years:

* Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who met her twice, called her "this remarkable woman whose very name denotes her compassionate response to human need, and her celebration of human dignity and worth."

He praised her "reverence for people, be they the most destitute or the most distinguished in the eyes of others," and said she "already holds a towering place in human history."

Bishop Hubbard asked Catholics to "offer prayers of gratitude to God for the measureless gift of her faith that moved mountains and of her ceaseless challenge to the rest of us to love our neighbor to the utmost, especially the poor and voiceless."

* Rev. Kenneth Doyle, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena parish in Albany, was working as a bureau chief for Catholic News Service in Rome in 1983 when he came upon the great nun unexpectedly.

About every three weeks, he would take a turn celebrating Mass at the convent of the Missionaries of Charity. Since the order's tenets include a very simple lifestyle, the nuns would sit on the floor during Mass. One day, Father Doyle glanced down during his homily and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Right at the foot of the lectern, Mother Teresa was sitting on the floor!" he told The Evangelist.

Until that moment, his only experience with Mother Teresa had been as a spectator at a 1976 Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, watching her speak from a distance. Now, she sat just a few feet away from him, surrounded by other Missionaries of Charity.

Although the priest was aware that Mother Teresa visited her fellow sisters from time to time, "I was kind of surprised," he remembered. "I certainly didn't expect to see her there!"

As he continued his homily, Father Doyle wondered what he could say that the woman who had been called a "living saint" would need to hear. "It was a little disconcerting; I didn't know what I could say to her," he said.

But after Mass, "she came into the sacristy. She was very gracious. She welcomed me, thanked me for coming and saying Mass for the sisters, and thanked me for the homily. She talked to me about a convent they had just opened up in New York."

Father Doyle was surprised at Mother Teresa's diminutive stature. Although he had read that she was about five feet tall, he noted that she was actually only 4'10' or 4'11'. Still, Mother Teresa's towering spiritual stature belied her physical height.

"What impressed me the most about her over the years was that she was a person of utter simplicity," Father Doyle said. "She didn't fancy herself any great genius; she said that anyone can do something beautiful for God."

The pastor called Mother Teresa "a great woman of prayer," quoting one of his favorite comments of hers: "`Without prayer, I could not work for even half an hour. I get my strength from prayer.'"

With Mother Teresa's death, said Father Doyle, the world may have lost a great worker, but "her order will carry on, and they will always be imbued with the spirit and presence of Mother Teresa."

* Marjorie O'Hagan, a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Albany, was touched by Mother Teresa. In 1991, her grand niece Danielle did a report on Mother Teresa and wrote her a letter. The family received a reply from the internationally known woman. "It was a surprise," Miss O'Hagan said. "Danielle was very thrilled."

While she thinks it's too soon to tell what the effect the contact with Mother Teresa had on her grand niece, Miss O'Hagan said, "Hopefully, it had an impact."

In 1995, Danielle traveled with her family to India where they could see first-hand the conditions that Mother Teresa worked to improve. It was a difficult trip for the family, Miss O'Hagan said.

(09-11-97) [[In-content Ad]]