Mother Teresa
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, which is the real name of Mother Teresa, was born on August 26 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia. Her father died when she was young and her mother raised her as a Roman Catholic. From a very young age, Agnes had an active interest in the Missionaries in Bengal and decided to devote her life to serving the poor and needy. When she was 18, she left home to join Sisters of Loreto as a missionary and came to Kolkata, India.
Disturbed and the “Call within the Call”
At first, she was contented with teaching in St. Mary’s High School, but she caught glimpses of the sufferings and poverty
In 1946, she experienced another call. She was urged to leave the convent and help the poor. She started with the slums of Kolkata and since she had no money, she started an open-air school for the poor children. The first year was terrible for her. She had no income source and had to resort to begging to continue. However, soon many volunteers joined her. Many churches and organizations provided financial help to her. She started The Missionaries of Charity with this money where the unfortunate were loved and taken care of.
Today, this organization has thousands of missionaries who are trained as medical and social workers and work tirelessly, following Teresa’s guidelines.
In 1952 she established a House for the Dying in an abandoned temple. The poor and dying were brought here to receive medical help and pass away with dignity. According to her, “A beautiful death is for people who lived like animals to die like angels – wanted and loved.”
In 1955, she opened the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, a home for the lost and infant children who initially came to the Missionaries of Charity. Later, all homeless and orphan children were admitted here.
Going international
“By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
These were words from Mother Teresa herself. As her work gained more appreciation and admiration from people all around the world, she received more donations and decided to open a congregation in Venezuela, and was soon followed by many other countries.
Within 1996, Mother Teresa was running more than 500 missions in over a hundred countries worldwide.
The voice of love, peace, and humanity
Before passing away in September 1997, Mother Teresa spent all the time in her life in helping the poor. She believed that everyone deserved to be loved and she worked hard to provide that love wherever she could.
Mother Teresa taught people that you have to sign up
Mother Teresa was often criticized for her strong stand against abortion and divorce. She accepted all criticism with a smile and held her position. She showed that just because your heart is soft doesn’t mean you can’t stand your ground.
She always emphasized on loving the people around you. She believed that love is the key to life. She had to face numerous obstacles in her missions, but she never stopped loving people.
She said, “There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread. We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”