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On September 5, 1997, the saint died Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Today, 24 years after her death, five Sisters of Charity, a congregation founded by Mother Teresa, live in a house in San Isidro, near the neighborhood of La How are you, and all of them met the Mother in person. They all wear their signature “sari”, a traditional Indian dress, white with light blue stripes, and dedicate their lives to caring for abandoned girls and women with disabilities.
“Mother Teresa had a very deep gaze, she was paying attention to you, she could see God in every person. There might be more people around, but if I looked at you, it was like no one else existed. The love with which I took babies and cared for those in need were the things that drew me to take the step of giving myself, ”says Anita, one of the consecrated women. “If she was with you, she was with you,” he remembers fondly.
One of them, Sister Anita, was born in Mexico and after passing through different houses of the congregation around the world, ended up in Argentina. She says the first time she felt called to her vocation was when she was 10 when she saw Franciscan sisters who caught her attention. “I didn’t want to study, I was a bit of a rebel, so my parents told me to work, that I couldn’t sit back and do nothing,” says the sister. “When I was 15, I went to work in Tijuana in a factory and it happened that Mother Teresa was visiting a house in Fathers of Charity in the same area. Just as it happened to me with Franciscan women, seeing her marked me forever, ”she said calmly.
“I joined his group of young people, we did the apostolate, we fed the sick, but it was not enough. The seed of the desire to give myself completely to the Lord continued to grow. While talking with one of the priests, he advised me to send a letter to Mother in India. Shortly after, he replied, I went to the convent with the letter and had a 15-day experience with the sisters. I announced the news to my parents, I quit my job and in 6 months I entered the convent, ”says the sister.
I was not afraid, I was 19 and I wanted to save the world, ”she says with a funny smile. “I have 10 siblings and my only concern when I joined the congregation was that I would miss them very much, plus it was difficult for me to speak English. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to let go of those ties. I was in Tijuana, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I had to come to Argentina when I made my vows in 1993, ”he says.
He also says that they see a lot of poverty in Argentina but that worse than material poverty is emotional poverty: “We see a lot of need for affection, for confinement,” they say. “I have had experiences of seeing the girls in this house and how their families cannot contain them due to poverty. We take care of them and help them so that they can educate themselves and give them the love they need. We are not part of a royal family, but we try to fill this void that they have affection, ”says Sister Anita.
“We are a missionary community and no one is a prophet in their own country, so we never stay in our countries of origin. We have the missionary spirit, we see places like India and Africa as mission lands. The fourth vow we make is to serve the poorest of the poor, wherever they send us. We try to reach everywhere, ”explains the nun.
“For me, charity is the love of God, we alone have nothing. It is the love of God in us. This translates into giving hope to those who do not have it, showing a smile to those who never receive it. The fact of having met Mother Teresa inspired me to reach this depth, to understand from where she drew so much strength, energy and love. Even in his darkness, when he didn’t feel God or if Heaven existed, he still smiled. Jesus acted through it. I am impressed by the immense charity that has emerged from this unity with Christ ”, explains the sister.
He says the Mother has had a very hard life. She gave love and care to as many people as she could, but never returned to care for her mother and sister in present-day Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. As communism controlled the area, he was never able to enter his hometown, only his brother managed to escape. By the end of the Cold War, they had already starved to death. The Mother traveled and thanks to a friend, she found out where everyone’s remains were, and she brought back those of her sister with those of her mother.
The sister said that the Mother said that the day she was in heaven, next to God, would be where she could help the world the most.
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