“I was so amazed by what she did, serving the poor throughout the world through her extraordinary gifts and strong faith in the Lord,” he said. “We were told by the police not to touch Mother Teresa, but she came to us, shaking our hands,” he said, recalling the impact of the experience on his life as a priest. Veronica Parish, Howell, was also in his pastoral year as a seminarian when he took his seat in the first pew of the Cathedral.

The names were distributed among the Missionaries of Charity, who “adopted” them in prayer.įather Vicente Magdaraog, parochial vicar, St. Mother Teresa had requested a list of all the priests and seminarians in the Diocese. And to have a living saint praying for you, along with her sisters, was really rather exciting and, in some ways, humbling that with everything else they had to do, they would take the time to pray for us,” he said. Dorothea Parish, Eatontown, the prospect of seeing Mother Teresa was very exciting. It was very striking,” he said.įor Father Charles Schwartz, pastor of St. I remember her words, ‘God bless you.’ Then she asked us to pray for her and her sisters. We knelt with our hands folded, and she came and prayed with each of us briefly, holding our hands. “I went at his urging and was surprised to find that we would be seated in the front row. But Father Chuck insisted, ‘You have to go. I told him I couldn’t go because I had parish responsibilities. “Father Chuck, one of my classmates, called to tell me Mother Teresa was coming. Denis Parish, Manasquan, almost missed the soon-to-be saint. “During her visit, she greeted all the seminarians of the Diocese and gave each of us a Miraculous Medal of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which I wore around my neck for a number of years before inadvertently losing it.”įather William Lago, pastor, St. “At the time, I was a seminarian preparing for the priesthood,” Father Gadenz remembers. Praying for vocations was one of the reasons for Mother Teresa’s visit to the Diocese on June 18, 1995. “I remember with gratitude Mother Teresa’s visit to the Cathedral,” said Father Pablo Gadenz, associate professor of Biblical Studies, Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and asked 12 seminarians of the Diocese to pray for her. Twenty-one years ago, a diminutive nun, a living saint, stood in the sanctuary of St.

Charles schwartz pastor