ROCKFORD—Not a lot of people can say they have actually met, worked and assisted  at the canonization of someone they knew.

One of those few people is Dr. Anthony B. D’Souza, a Rockford psychiatrist who met the church’s newest saint, Mother Teresa, when he was just 8-years-old.

“I was born and raised in Kolkata,” he said. “My next door neighbor was a businessman, and he was one of Mother Teresa’s earliest benefactors, because she was just starting a ministry, and our neighbor used to give her money to help her out.”

Mother Teresa visited Dr. D’Souza’s neighbor every two or three months with Archbishop Ferdinand Perier of Kolkata, he explained.

On a visit in 1953, the neighbors invited the D’Souza family for dinner and, “that is how I met Mother Teresa,” he said.

“She was not famous,” he added, “but she was getting famous, at least locally. (We) knew that someday she would be a saint.”

When Dr. D’Souza grew up, especially from 1958 to 1966, he had the opportunity to see her many times.  
“Especially when I was in college, in medical school, I went sometimes to a couple of her clinics to help as a volunteer,” he explained. “I took care of a lot of people who were sick or hungry or dying, so that’s how I kept in touch with her.”

He remembered the type of conversation they used to have. It was based on “day to day stuff,” he said. “ ‘What do I do today?’ Or,  ‘When do you want me to go?’ Sometimes I’d go to the convent and talk to her about how she was doing. She asked what I was doing — regular talk, and nothing in particular.”

Dr. D’Souza describes Mother Teresa as “very holy, ... very calm, very passionate, and you knew there was something extraordinary about this small woman. She was about 5 feet — maybe 2 inches? — tall.”

The canonization trip

Dr. D’Souza traveled to Mother Teresa’s canonization in Rome with a diverse group:

n A Colombian priest by birth, Venezuelan by education;

n Two lay people born in India from a Portuguese mother, and

n One American-born citizen.

The travelers were representative of the larger group gathered in Rome.

Father William Vallejo, pastor of St. Edward Parish in Rockford, was the priest with Dr. D’Souza.

“You could see the universality of the Church,” at the canonization, Father Vallejo said.

“There were many Hindus gathered together around the altar, beside the pope, cardinals and bishops,” he said. “It was exciting to see so many cultures united in one thanksgiving prayer to God for the canonization of a woman of our time.”

Other trip mates were James Ryan of St. Peter Parish in Rockford; Alfred D’Souza of St. Francis Parish in Beach Haven, N.J.,  and Tony D’Souza, parishioner at St. Edward in Rockford.

These few were part of, what Father Vallejo calculates,  was “more than 125,000 souls from different countries around the world” in St. Peter Square for the Sept. 4 Mass.

“It was a great experience, you don’t have canonizations every day, and it was very special,” Dr. D’Souza said.

“Just a few people can say they went to a canonization of someone they actually knew. Everybody was on fire at St. Peter Square and when Pope Francis arrived everybody went crazy.

“We had very good seats, close to the altar,” Dr. D’Souza said.

“The Mass of Canonization for St. Teresa of Calcutta was a most memorable and spiritual experience,” said Ryan. “We really felt moved by the Holy Spirit during the entire Mass, which was in Latin, the Missa de Angelic in Gregorian Chant.

“Being in the presence of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, was an incredible experience — one we will never forget,” Ryan said.