St. Mother Teresa was canonized by Pope Francis Sunday in the Vatican.
The Marquette community gathered last Wednesday for a Mass to celebrate Mother Teresa’s canonization in advance. Community members reflect on her campus visit in 1981, when she was honored with the Pere Marquette Discovery Award—the university’s highest honor.
During the new saint’s visit to the university director of Manresa for Faculty Susan Mountin was in charge of the Eucharistic ministers and pregnant at the time.
Mountin had suffered from miscarriage in her previous pregnancy and asked Saint Mother Teresa for her prayers.
“She grabbed my hands and said, ‘I pray for the safety of your child’ and seven months later he was born. It was not the easiest experience with him,” Mountin said. “My husband pointed out that her grace was with us because it was a harrowing experience.”
Mary Pat Pfeil, retired senior director of university communication, was also a Eucharistic minister during St. Mother Teresa’s visit. The canonization came as no surprise to Pfeil. There are two memories that stayed with her throughout the years.
“Number one: How tiny Mother Teresa was,” Pfeil said. “She was this very, very tiny woman and number two: the saintliness of the woman. She was so focused on the Eucharist. You felt that saintliness. I think that was palpable for people that day.”
Elizabeth Roth, a freshman in the College of Engineering described the canonization as “beautiful.”
“Coming to college right now, especially being at a Jesuit institution where service is so at the forefront of our education, to have witnessed the canonization of the first saint we’re going to remember was amazing,” Roth said.
“And just the community around it too,” Roth said. “Being in a place where everybody is aware of what is going on is unique and special.”