Senate Resolution No. 1841

BY: Senator GOLDEN

MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
September 4, 2017, as Mother Teresa Day in the State
of New York

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
honor extraordinary individuals whose lifework, spiritual leadership and
guidance served to enhance the quality of life for others; and

WHEREAS, Mother Teresa was one such individual; truly the model of
compassion and charity, she served the needs of the sick and the poorest
of the poor; and

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to memorialize
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim September 4, 2017, as Mother Teresa
Day in the State of New York; and

WHEREAS, Mother Teresa was declared a Saint on September 4, 2016, at
a canonization ceremony conducted at the Vatican in Rome, Italy; and

WHEREAS, Born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, now capital of the
Republic of Macedonia, to Albanians, Nikolle and Dranafile Bojaxhiu,
Mother Teresa was baptized as Gonxha Agnes; and

WHEREAS, At the age of 18, she moved to Ireland and joined the
Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland; and

WHEREAS, She left for India in the year 1929, and started her
novitiate at a convent in Darjeeling, India; it was there she learned
Bengali, one of the main spoken languages in Kolkata, and began teaching
at St. Teresa's School; and

WHEREAS, On May 24, 1931, Mother Teresa took her first religious
vows and adopted the name Sister Mary Teresa; it was while serving as a
teacher at the Loreto Convent School in Entally, Kolkata, that she
started focusing her attention on the poverty surrounding her in the
state; and

WHEREAS, In 1948, Mother Teresa started her missionary work with the
poor; it was then she replaced her traditional Loreto habit with the
iconic blue-bordered cotton sari; and

WHEREAS, In 2015, Pope Francis announced that the Church would be
declaring Mother Teresa as a Saint after the Church recognized a second
miracle attributed to Mother; a man from Brazil who was afflicted with
multiple brain tumors got healed after praying to Mother Teresa; the
first miracle was that of a 30-year old Kolkata woman getting healed of
her stomach tumor after praying to the Mother Teresa; both the miracles
occurred after her death; and

WHEREAS, In both cases, no scientific healing explanations could be
found by the Vatican committee; it was Pope John Paul II who approved
the first miracle and paved the Mother's path to Sainthood; and

WHEREAS, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman
Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012, consisted of over 4,500
sisters and was active in 133 countries; and

WHEREAS, Sister Christi, a senior sister at the Missionaries of
Charity, believes that the canonization of Mother Teresa would help to
spread Mother Teresa's vital message 'to serve the poor'; and

WHEREAS, The recipient of countless awards and accolades, in 1979
Mother Teresa received a Nobel Peace Prize for her missionary work in
serving the needs of the sick and the poorest of the poor; in addition,
on August 28, 2010, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth,
the government of India issued a special 5 Rupee coin, being the sum she
first arrived with in India; President Pratibha Patil said of Mother
Teresa, "Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of
Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many including the
aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill,
and those abandoned by their families"; and

WHEREAS, Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87,
in Calcutta, West Bengal, India; the selflessness she demonstrated
throughout her life, and the intensity of her efforts to help others are
evidence that she truly made a difference in the world and will long be
remembered; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim September 4, 2017, as
Mother Teresa Day in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.