An Incredible Gift Arrives from Bishop Robert Brom: Relics of St. Mother Teresa

I owe Bishop Brom for so much in my life. He accepted me to be a seminarian for the diocese of Duluth back in the 1980s and was a mentor of mine for many years.

Bishop Brom was among the greatest influences of my early life for which I am so grateful. His influence and his generosity still continue to this day with his incredible generosity to this collection. Most recently the 1st class relic of Mother Teresa’s hair, and the second class relic of the cross and miraculous medal from her hospital gown are gifts from him.

They are currently on loan to the papal artifacts’ collection.

Thank you Bishop Brom, and God bless you in your continued ministry!

—Father Richard Kunst

: St. Mother Teresa: Crucifix from Hospital Gown 1992

: Bishop Robert Brom 1983-1989

: St. Mother Teresa: Crucifix from Hospital Gown 1992 & Letter from BP Brom

Statement from Bishop Robert Brom regarding this 2nd class relic

This crucifix together with the miraculous medal and safety pin were given to me by Mother Teresa of Calcutta from her hospital gown in January 1992 while she was hospitalized here in San Diego, and I was the active bishop. She did so to emphasize the point she was making in a visit with me that to be truly Christian we must love Jesus and one another, especially in the distressing disguise of the poor, as he first loves us — “with love ’til it hurts.”

Signed: Robert H. Brom
Bishop Emeritus of San Diego

A sign with the relics states, The Crucifix along with the miraculous medal and safety pin are to be given to : Father Richard Kunst, Diocese of Duluth

NOTE: These 2nd class relics are on loan to the Papal Artifacts’ Collection.

The Cross Mother Teresa Loved and Carried with Her

St. Mother Teresa & the Unity Cross on Rosary

Created by a Schoenstatt seminarian, it ‘best expressed what she and her community wanted to do’

It’s not too easy to see, but the official canonization portrait of Mother Teresa depicts what’s known as the “unity cross” on her rosary.The unity cross is linked to the Schoenstatt movement, as it was created by the first generation of Chilean Schoenstatt seminarians who studied in Brazil and Switzerland.The unity cross depicts Jesus on a low cross, enabling Mary to be pressed against him, as she collects his blood in a chalice which is at the center of the image.According to Schoenstatt, the unity cross was crafted by Fr. Angel Vicente Cerró, when he was a seminarian. It was finished in 1960 and presented at the Schoenstatt Shrine in Bellavista, Santiago, Chile.The original image is now in the Schoenstatt Shrine in Stuttgart, Germany.Monsignor Peter Wolf explains that “Mother Teresa found [a replica of] this cross in the dirt on the street and knew nothing of its history. She discovered it again when she visited the Vatican and saw that it was the pectoral cross of Archbishop [Francisco] Errázuriz [of Santiago, Chile], who was then the Secretary of the Congregation for Consecrated Life. Mother Teresa told him that this cross best expressed what she and her community wanted to do: Like Mary to stand by the Cross of the Dying Christ and to meet him there. The Archbishop, later Cardinal, then gave her hundreds of copies of this Unity Cross for her Sisters.”Cardinal Errázuriz is a priest of the Schoenstatt Fathers, serving from 1974 as the community’s Superior General. In 1990, he was appointed secretary of the Vatican’s congregation for religious. In 1998, he was made archbishop of Santiago, Chile, retiring in 2010.In fact, Cardinal Errázuriz has himself explained how it was that Mother Teresa was given copies of the unity cross for her sisters:

The memory of the conversation with Mother Teresa of Kolkata about the Unity Cross remains engraved perfectly in my memory.(When I worked in Rome) she attended the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life to speak about a new Institute of priests she was founding. Their center would be in Tijuana, Mexico. This would be their Kolkata (many people from Central America and Mexico flocked to this town after having left their homes and sold everything they had to cross over the border into the United States. They were unsuccessful and succumbed to immense poverty).When she greeted me and saw my pectoral cross, which is a copy of the Unity Cross, she slightly lifted the jacket she was wearing over her sari and showed me a small Unity Cross that she always carried with her. (She didn’t say anything about the origin of the cross she carried.) She added: ‘Here is the Mother of God together with the Poorest of the poor. ‘As she said goodbye, she asked me if I could get 3,000 crosses because she wanted every Sister of Mercy to have her own. I wanted to give them this gift. I found enough donors and we bought them in Mexico. I sent them to her.”

Kathleen N. Hattrup – published on 11/27/16

Aleteia is a worldwide network providing daily content designed to inspire readers in their daily life.

: Eight-by-Ten Color Photo of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Signed

: Letter From Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta to Father Richard Kunst, Dated 1995

: Letter From Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta to Father Richard Kunst, Dated 1995 (page 2)

: Letter from Mother Teresa, 1990

: Tickets to the October 19, 2003 Beatification of Mother Teresa, & the October 16, 2003 25th Anniversary of Pope John Paul II, with a Picture of the Pope & Mother Teresa