MOTHER TERESA CANONIZATION PORTRAIT NOW IN CONNECTICUT

North Carolina artist Chas Fagan’s posthumous painting of Mother Teresa was chosen as the official portrait for her September 4 canonization. The painting was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus as a gift to the Missionaries of Charity. “Everyone’s face shows their history,” Fagan said in an interview from Rome. “Mother Teresa’s is a face that has seen a lot of daylight and work, and that’s completely reflected in her actual likeness, but what contrasts with that harsher physical visage is the warmth of her eyes and expression, that inner glow. That’s what makes it such an appealing face.” His painting was used as the basis for the large tapestry unfurled from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa a saint. The original painting is now on display at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Conn. Knights officials said the portrait will end up in one of the Missionaries of Charity houses in Rome. The Knights printed the official canonization Mass program and 1 million holy cards with the Fagan painting on the front and a quote from Mother Teresa on the back: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. God still loves the world and sends you and me to be His love, His compassion to the poor.”