Mother Teresa: Biography

One of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century, Mother Teresa, along with her sisters of the Missionaries of Charity, became a symbol of love, care and compassion for the world.

Mother Teresa, considered by many as one of the 20th Century’s greatest humanitarians, was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016. She even won the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work.

• Birth Date: August 27, 1910
• Death Date: September 5, 1997

Early Childhood & Family

Recognised as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in the Catholic Church, Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje (now the capital of Macedonia).

Mother Teresa’s father was an entrepreneur and her mother was deeply involved with the local church as well as in city politics as a vocal proponent of Albanian independence. Her father died when she was just eight years old. As Agnes became close to her mother, following on her mother’s footsteps, even Agnes started developing a deep commitment towards charity work.

As a child, she would make an annual pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnice, and it was on one such trip, at the tender age of 12, Agnes decided to dedicate her life to a religious cause.

Later, in 1928, when she was 18, Agnes Bojaxhiu decided that she wanted to become a nun and set off the Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, the Irish community that was involved in operating missions across India. There she was named Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Therese of Lisieux.

Initial Days in India

In 1929, Mother Teresa came to India and pursued her passion for teaching from 1931 to 1948. She taught at the St. Teresa’s School in Darjeeling. Later, she moved to Calcutta and taught at Saint Mary’s High School for Girls, a school run by the Loreto Sisters, where she taught girls from the city’s poorest Bengali families. Sister Teresa also learned to speak Bengali and Hindi fluently so that she could better communicate with the girls.

She took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience on May 24, 1937, and was given the title of “Mother” (as was the custom for Loreto nuns) and from there on people would refer to her as Mother Teresa.

Starts Charity Work

In 1946, when Mother Teresa was riding in a train from Calcutta to the Himalayan foothills, she said that she heard Christ speak to her and told her give up reaching and instead serve the city’s poorest and sickest people.

It was this call that would transform her life.

For almost a year and a half she had to convince her convent to giver her the offical permission to pursue her calling.

Once she had the permission, she left the Loreto convent and wandered out into Calcutta, wearing a blue-and-white sari (that she would wear in public for the rest of her life). Mother Teresa undertook a six months course on basic medical training and started caring for the poorest and the sickest in the slums of Calcutta, with no specific goals but just to serve.

Missionaries of Charity

From 1948 onwards, Mother Teresa started serving the poor residing in the slum areas of Calcutta, which eventually led to the establishment of The Missionaries of Charity in 1950. The aim of the congregation was to serve the poorest of the poor, the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families.

As her work started attracting global attention, donations from across the globe started pouring in, amd Mother Teresa’s charitable activities expanded exponentially. Over the next couple of decades, Mother Teresa established hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, leper colony, and several mobile health clinics.

In 1971, Mother Teresa opened her first American-based house of charity in New York City.

In 1985, Mother Teresa spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and While in New York, she also opened ‘Gift of Love’, a nursing home for those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Awards and Recognition

For her selfless services, Mother Teresa won several accolades from across the globe.

• February 1965, Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity.
• In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• In 1980, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest award given to civilians.
• In 2016, Mother Teresa was canonised by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87 due to old age and deteriorating health.