
DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709100564

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHEN KIEHL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   78 lines

HONORING MOTHER TERESA BRINGS CHARITY HOME TO CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

About 190 students of all ages and races gathered in the warm lobby of Holy Trinity Catholic School on Tuesday to pay tribute to a woman who was generations older and lived half a world away, but whose influence transcended all boundaries.

Sitting and standing in a semi-circle around a statue of Mary and newspaper photos of Mother Teresa pasted on blue cardboard, the students at the Norfolk school read petitions each class had written.

They prayed for those who had been helped by Mother Teresa: the sick, the old, the poor. And they prayed that they would have the strength to carry on her work. ``That we follow in Mother Teresa's footsteps by giving food to the hungry, we pray,'' read one petition.

Local Catholic schools are remembering Mother Teresa this week in classes and with prayer services and makeshift memorials. Students considered the Calcutta nun to be a living saint, teachers said, and are now eager to learn more about her life.

``She was a good role model, a good leader,'' said Antonio Scott, 13, a seventh-grader at Holy Trinity. ``She helped the poor, the people in need and (taught us) to just do what's right and live by God's commandments.''

Some students were amazed that one tiny woman could do so much. In Enri Payne's sixth-grade class, students were asked Tuesday to answer this question in their journals: Would you follow in Mother Teresa's footsteps?

Enri, 11, said he wrote that it would a ``great honor'' to follow in her footsteps, but it would also be very difficult.

``I don't think I'd be strong enough to do that - to deal with all the sick and hungry,'' he said.

At Christ the King School in Norfolk, fifth-grade teacher Kim Callahan has converted the wall outside her classroom into something of a shrine for Mother Teresa. Beneath a picture of her are newspaper accounts of her life and students' summaries of those stories.

Students are encouraged to post their own prayers for Mother Teresa on the wall - ``anything to let them feel that they are honoring (her),'' Callahan said.

She added: ``The children are aware not only on the level that she was a wonderful woman, but that it will be historical to witness the process of canonization through the Vatican.''

Portsmouth Catholic Elementary School has scheduled a prayer service for Mother Teresa for Friday. And in classes this week students are learning about her life. Some of the students were so affected by her message of giving that they urged the school to do something along those lines, said principal Thea Haubrich.

``A lot of the kids wanted to do something to help the poor in the area,'' Haubrich said. So the school is collecting non-perishables this week that will be donated to Oasis, a Portsmouth food bank and shelter.

At St. Gregory's School in Virginia Beach, children place flowers every morning at a shrine for Mother Teresa in the lobby. Some students have brought in roses, and one brought in a handful of buttercups, said Deni Brown, the school's vice principal.

``They're very aware of who she was,'' Brown said. ``They see that you can be much more charitable and be aware of charity in your school and home.''

After the prayer service for Mother Teresa at Holy Trinity, Marilyn McKee, a sixth-grader, said that she would try her hardest to emulate her. The petition her class wrote was for people suffering from AIDS, ``because she helped a lot of people with AIDS who were dying,'' Marilyn said.

She added, ``I'm glad we had just a little bit of time to remember all the good things she did.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

IN HER FOOTSTEPS

BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Students at Holy Trinity Catholic School in Norfolk, like their

counterparts around the area, honored Mother Teresa this week. They

prayed for those the nun helped, and asked for the strength to be

more like her. The cards in the basket hold the students' pledges.

BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Third-grader Katie Stein, 8, sings during a brief service Tuesday

at Holy Trinity Catholic School. Students gathered near a statue of

Virgin Mary to offer pledge cards stating their desire to emulate

Mother Teresa.