Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, on August 26, 1910. The youngest of the children born to Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu, she was baptised Gonxha Agnes, received her First Communion at the age of five and a half and was confirmed in November 1916. Five children were born to Nikola and Drane but only three of them survived. Her father died when she was eight years old and her mother had to raise her children firmly and lovingly which greatly influenced Mother Teresa's character. She was very involved in the parish of Sacred Heart which assisted her religious formation.
At age 18, she chose to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin. The Sisters of Loreto are missionaries and educators founded in the 17th century to educate young girls. After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. She chose the name Sister Teresa, honoring the saints Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux. From 1931 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, teaching history and geography. She decided that she was "to give up even Loreto where I was very happy and to go out in the streets. I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor."
In order to do this, she had to be released formally, not from her perpetual vows, but from living within the convents of the Sisters of Loreto. She had to confront the Church's resistance to forming new religious communities, and receive permission from the Archbishop of Calcutta to serve the poor openly on the streets. She had to figure out how to live and work on the streets, without the safety and comfort of the convent. Mother Teresa first went to Patna for a few months to prepare for her future work by taking a nursing course. She was soon joined by voluntary helpers and was getting financial support, so she was able to expand the scope of her work. Mother Teresa visited the poor and inquired about their needs. She found a never-ending stream of human needs in the poor she met, and frequently was exhausted. Despite the weariness of her days she never omitted her prayer, finding it the source of support, strength and blessing for all her ministry.
On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to start her own order, "The Missionaries of Charity", whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after. This society became an International Relgious Family in 1965 by a decree of Pope Paul VI. The Missionaries have spread all over the world to places like the former Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees. The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and people suffering from AIDS. The Missionaries of Charity became an official International Association on March 29, 1969.
Mother Teresa received many awards for the work she did during her life including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards. A quote that I found from Mother Teresa sums up her life. “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. ”
Bibliography:
Mother Teresa: The Nobel Peace Prize 1979
Who Was Blessed Mother Teresa?
