MISSIONARY OF CHARITY

Missionary of Charity –  Sister Madonna della Strada, M.C.                                                                                                                                       “I thirst.”

Foundress:  Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta  (The “Saint of the Gutters”)

Place:  Calcutta, India

Year:  1950 A.D.

Her Charism:  Smiling is her first act of love.  The heart of this Sister’s charism is to enter more fully into the mystery of the saving Cross of Jesus Christ – to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the Cross for love of souls and to remain everlastingly with Mary at the Foot of that Cross.  This Sister’s life is founded in prayer and marked by simplicity, and humility.  She labors cheerfully, wholeheartedly, tirelessly, and always with a smile for the salvation and sanctification of the “poorest of the poor” while clinging to Jesus in love.  She believes that works of love are works of peace.  In addition to her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, she takes a fourth vow: to give hope to those who have lost it, and to see the Face of Christ in all who suffer.  She is kept hidden in the five wounds of Christ as she performs her many corporal and spiritual works of mercy with total reliance on Divine Providence for all personal necessities and those of the poor.