Mother Teresa

Born: 26th August, 1910 at Skopje, Macedonia.

Died: 5th September, 1997 at Calcutta, India.

Her Family:-

             On August 27, 1910, a date frequently mistaken for her birthday, Teresa was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.Teresa's parents, Nikola and Drana Bojaxhiu, were of Albanian descent. Her father was a construction contractor and a trader of medicines and other goods. The Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family, and Nikola Bojaxhiu was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics as a vocal proponent of Albanian independence. Her father suddenly fell ill and died. But the reason of his father's death is still unknown. Her mother instilled in her a deep commitment in charity.

Her Education :-

             Teresa attended a convent-run primary school and then a state-run secondary school.

Became Sister Mary Teresa :-

             In 1928, an 18-year-old Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Loreto Sisters of Dublin. It was there that she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

Teresa as a Teacher :-

            A year later, Mother Teresa traveled on to Darjeeling, India for the novitiate period; in May 1931, Mother Teresa made her First Profession of Vows. Then she was sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for Girls, a school run by the Loreto Sisters and dedicated to teaching girls from the city's poorest Bengali families. Teresa learned to speak both Bengali and Hindi fluently as she taught geography and history and dedicated herself to alleviating the girls' poverty through education. On May 24, 1937, she took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience.

Got the Name of Mother :-

             As was the custom for Loreto nuns, she took on the title of "mother" upon making her final vows and thus became known as Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa continued to teach at Saint Mary's, and in 1944 she became the school's principal.

Call of Christ :-

             On 10th September of 1946, Mother Teresa experienced a calling from Christ. She was riding a train from Calcutta to the Himalayan foothills for a retreat when Christ spoke to her and told her to abandon teaching to work in the slums of Calcutta aiding the city's poorest and sickest people. In January 1948 she finally received approval from the local Archbishop Ferdinand Périer to pursue this calling.After six months of basic medicaltraining, she voyaged for the first time into Calcutta's slums with no more specific goal than to aid "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for."

The Missionaries of Charity :-

              She began an open-air school and established a home for the dying destitute in a dilapidated building she convinced the city government to donate to her cause. In October 1950, she won canonical recognition for a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded with only 12 members -- most of them former teachers or pupils from St. Mary's School. Donations poured in from around India and across the globe for her cheritable activies. In 1950s and 1960s, Mother Teresa established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics. In February 1965, Pope John Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted Mother Teresa to begin expanding internationally. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4,000 with 610 foundations in 123 countries on all seven continents. In 1971, Mother Teresa traveled to New York City where she opened a soup kitchen as well as a home to care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Awards Achievement :-

·         Padma Shri award by India in 1962.

·         Roman Magsaysay award for international understanding and her work in South or East Asia in 1962.

·         Jawaharlal Nehru award for International Understanding in 1969.

·         In 1971 Paul VI gave her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize.

·         Albert Schweitzer International Prize in 1975.

·         Pacem in Terris Award in 1976.

·         Balzan Prize in 1978.

·         Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

·         Bharat Ratna in 1980.

·         Order of Australia in 1982.

·         Order of Merit in 1983.

·         Presidential Medal of Freedom by America in 1985.

Her Death :-

              She suffered some problems of heart, lung and kidney and died on 5th September 1997 at the age of 87 years. On Oct. 19, 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa.