The spirit of Mother Teresa is alive among her sisters who continue ministering to the poor on the West Side.
On Sunday morning, as they do six days every week, the Missionaries of Charity sisters served a breakfast of rice, sausage and sweet rolls at their soup kitchen next to St. Malachy’s Catholic Church near the United Center.
In the same kind of flowing white saris with blue trim Mother Teresa wore, the women led 100 men, women and children in prayer for the woman they simply call “Mother.”
“She left us with a great deep love, her service, her sacrifice and her example of great humanity,” one of the elder sisters told the needy lining four long tables, some clasping their palms together in prayer. “The rich the poor, the sick, the lonely, the unwanted. Everyone who came to her, she had love for them.”
The mission of Mother Teresa also was remembered Sunday at the Indian consul general’s office downtown, where hundreds of mourners signed condolence books. And on the Far North Side, a memorial service was held Sunday at the Indo American Center.
But Mother Teresa’s most visible local influence is on the West Side in the shadow of the Henry Horner Homes, where her first Chicago mission was started in 1983 at 2234 W. Washington Blvd.
The sisters there, so humble they do not give their names, know poverty is not only in the gutters of Calcutta but in cities around the world where the Missionaries of Charity serves those in need–including Chicago.
The former pastor at St. Malachy’s wrote to Mother Teresa asking for help. He received a letter back that read in part, “God bless you, Father. As soon as I can, I will send you four nuns.”
Through donations, the sisters, now numbering 19, including those in training, operate a soup kitchen, womens shelter, day camp, and summer and after-school programs in the old gymnasium at St. Malachy’s. A second mission, at St. Procopius in the Pilsen neighborhood, was established in 1986.
On the West Side, they offer hope where many would fear to tread: a neighborhood of housing developments, run-down two-flats and new homes built by the Chicago Housing Authority.
“The sisters are generous and they give equally to everybody,” said Diane Williams, 31, who brought her three children to the morning breakfast.
Williams lived with her children in the women’s shelter for about six months and found an apartment with the sisters’ encouragement.
“They helped me become a better person, get off my feet and look for a job,” she said.
There also were words of praise for Mother Teresa during morning mass next door at St. Malachy’s, 2248 W. Washington Blvd.
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“She was a wonderful woman, a woman who does not easily fit into our world,” said Rev. Ralph Starus.
About 75 people stood under the broad archways and butterscotch columns of the church, light pouring through stained glass windows. They uniformly praised the life of Mother Teresa, who died Friday at the age of 87 in her adopted home of India.
“Mother Teresa is the master of the Good Samaritans,” West Side resident Odessa James, 66, said.
In her visits to Chicago, they said, Mother Teresa touched countless hearts.
“It just went all over me,” said Glenn Mayberry, 69, of the West Side, recalling the time he shook hands with Mother Teresa during her last visit to Chicago. “That someone can be as kind to dedicate her life to the most devastated people . . . I don’t think we’ll ever find someone to replace the work she did.”
Demetrius Ford, 35, met Mother Teresa when he worked in the rectory at St. Malachy’s 11 years ago. One day, the pastor told him to tidy up because a special visitor was coming. Ford served Mother Teresa coffee and donuts and was deeply touched by her presence.
“She looked at me and told me I look like a nice young man,” Ford recalled Friday. “Then she stopped and prayed for me right there, saying an Our Father.”
That was a turning point in his life.
“I felt her healing,” said Ford, who had been involved with gangs. “A lot of things started to change for me after that.”
A volunteer at the shelter, Betty Griffin, 56, has witnessed the sisters’ goodwill in the neighborhood.
“Since the sisters have been here, a lot of things that used to go on in the neighborhood don’t go on anymore,” said Griffin, wearing a rosary blessed by Mother Teresa. “There isn’t so much fighting and gangs.”
On Sunday, Mother Teresa’s admirers also crowded the lobby of the Indian consul general office, 455 N. Cityfront Plaza Drive, carrying flowers and bringing stories of how Mother Teresa inspired their lives. About 50 people were waiting in line during the afternoon; the condolence book will be open again Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
On the North Side, a small ceremony at the Indo American Center, 6328 N. California Ave., drew Indian business leaders who paid homage to Mother Teresa. In a simple ceremony, they lit candles in front of a portrait of Mother Teresa.
“Mother Teresa was a living goddess, if I can take a metaphor from the Hindu tradition,” said Moin `Moon’ Khan, the general secretary of the Federation of Indian Associations, which hosted the tribute. “She loved those who were rejected by the wealthy and rich, and those defeated by disease and death.”
Despite the loss of the spiritual leader, her sisters are not mournful, but filled with Mother Teresa’s love.
“We will continue on with what she gave us and her message of love,” said a sister at the West Side soup kitchen. “It is for each and every one of us to live on and practice what she taught us.”