Mother Teresa Never Gave Up on Life

Less than 20 years after her death, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta was canonized a saint on Sunday, Sept. 4, at the Vatican.

Pope Francis delivered the formula for the canonization of the Albanian-born nun before a crowd of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. Applause broke out before he finished his declaration. In Latin, the pope said that “after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Kolkata to be a saint, and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole church.”

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child,” said Mother Teresa.

During her lifetime, Mother Teresa often said, “If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God’s love.”Upon Mother Teresa’s beatification, St. Pope John Paul II spoke of his admiration for her. The two had a tremendous regard for one another’s passion for service.

“I am personally grateful to this courageous woman whom I have always felt beside me. Mother Teresa, an icon of the Good Samaritan, went everywhere to serve Christ in the poorest of the poor. Not even conflict and war could stand in her way,” said Pope John Paul II.

Mother Teresa was also not afraid to back down from what she knew was right. At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., back in 1994, she did not shy away from discussing something not everyone in the room was comfortable with — the issue of abortion.

“I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself,” she said in her address.

Among the many politicians in the audience was the first lady at the time — the current Democratic nominee for president — Hillary Clinton. Clinton even collaborated with the soon-to-be saint on the Mother Teresa Home for Infant Children.

Related: Most Heroic Thing about Mother Teresa’s Life

Even though Clinton’s stance on abortion has become far more radical over the years — she is a fervent supporter of Planned Parenthood — that day in 1994 a small, elderly nun took on one of the toughest challenges against life. That moment of strength inspired many.

Although she dealt with severely impoverished people in Calcutta, Mother Teresa saw the spiritual poverty of Western culture as more serious.

“She believed people suffered more from a poverty of love than a poverty of material goods.”

She articulated this concern: “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

Maureen O’Toole, a sophomore at the University of Dallas who is studying in Rome right now, attended the canonization. “I think that coming together as a community is the most fitting way to honor the sainthood of someone whose life was devoted entirely to others,” O’Toole said.

Modern-day culture — which can sometimes focus more on the next iPhone upgrade than the fate of fellow human beings — should look to Mother Teresa’s selfless affection for human life as an illustration of how to serve others.

“[Mother Teresa] has impacted my respect for human life. Her work focused on the material as well as the spiritual needs of everyone she worked with,” O’Toole said. “Regardless of age, social status, or race, she sought to love everyone she came in contact with because she believed that more people suffered from a poverty of love than a poverty of material goods.”

In 1928, Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu — later to become Mother Teresa — felt called to be a missionary. She joined the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland.

Almost 20 years later, Mother Teresa dressed for the first time in her white-and blue-lined habit to fulfill her call from God. She served the poorest of the poor and founded her order, the Missionaries of Charity.

Related: The Mysterious Beauty in Sanctity

“[Mother Teresa] saw everyone as an important piece of God’s plan and emphasized that it’s not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that matters,” O’Toole said. “[Her example] asks us to go beyond simply taking care of and looking out for those around us — but to truly love them with all we have.”

If Americans were to adopt Mother Teresa’s attitude toward the unborn — real change could happen within our culture. Instead of selfishly considering one’s own gain, people could follow Mother Teresa’s inspirational example of laying down one’s life for a friend.

This article has been updated.