St. Teresa of Calcutta Feast Day Celebration at Benedictine College

Published: Tuesday, September 5, 2017

The annual feast day of St. Teresa of Calcutta has traditionally been marked by ceremonies at the Mother Teresa Center for Nursing and Health Education on Benedictine College’s Atchison campus. The college named the building for her in 2010 and dedicated a new statue of the saint holding a child in 2016. This year, ceremonies get underway on September 5 at 3:00 p.m. at the Mother Teresa Nursing Center, located on the corner of Second St. and N St. All events are free and open to the public.

Events include an opening reception at 3:00 p.m., during which those in attendance will have the opportunity to write “Do something beautiful for God” Service Commitments. These are pledges to do something for others, whether that be prayers or action. Dr. Bill Buron, director of nursing, will welcome everyone and introduce senior nursing student Erin Geiger, who will give a presentation on the Nursing Department’s mission trip to Calcutta in 2015. After the presentation, everyone will have the opportunity to place their service commitments in a container beside the St. Teresa of Calcutta statue.

There will be a Mass in honor of the feast day at 5:30 p.m. in Guadalupe Chapel, located on the lower level of the Abbey Church. At 6:15, the Nursing Department will host an Indian Dinner in the O’Brien Lounge on the ground level of Elizabeth Hall. The dinner has a suggested $5 donation per person (no more than $20 per family) in order to raise funds for the Nursing Department’s mission trip to Calcutta in 2018.

Missionaries of Charity Superior General Sister M. Prema, MC, wrote a letter to Benedictine College granting permission for the naming of the Mother Teresa Nursing Center. The building was dedicated on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Mother Teresa visited the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison on June 9 and 10, 1981, when Benedictine College operated a South Campus at the Mount.  While addressing the Benedictine communities of Atchison, she said, “I beg you to give Jesus to the young people in your care.” 

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas.  The school is proud to have been named one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report as well as one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide.  It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging.  It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.