Mother Teresa dedicated her life to helping the poor, the sick, and the dying around the world, most notably in India. Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26th 1910 in Skopje, Yugoslavia, where she had a comfortable childhood. Deciding to become a nun in 1928, she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin Ireland. After several months in Ireland she left to join the Loreto convent in Darjeeling, India. On May 24, 1931, she took the name of “Teresa” in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth-century Spanish nun.
Assigned to teach at St. Mary’s High School for Girls in Calcutta, south of Darjeeling, she was troubled by the poverty she witnessed, as the city was crowded with beggars, lepers, and the homeless. In 1946, Mother Teresa left her position at St. Mary’s to care for the needy in the slums of Calcutta. After receiving the consent of her archbishop, she began her work, focusing her efforts on poor children in the streets, teaching them how to read and how to care for themselves.
In 1948, Pope Pius XII granted Mother Teresa permission to live as an independent nun. After studying nursing for three months, she returned to Calcutta to found the Missionaries of Charity. For her habit she chose a plain white sari with a blue border, and a simple cross pinned to her left shoulder.
In 1965, Pope Paul VI placed the Missionaries of Charity directly under the control of the papacy (the office of the pope) and authorized Mother Teresa to expand the order outside of India. Centers to treat lepers, the blind, the disabled, the aged, and the dying were soon opened worldwide, including one in Rome in 1968. Mother Teresa also organized schools and orphanages for the poor. The Brothers of Charity, the male companion to the Sisters of Charity, was formed in the mid-1960s to run the homes for the dying.
In 1971, Pope Paul VI honored Mother Teresa by awarding her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. The following year, the government of India presented her with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding. In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Mother Teresa accepted all of these awards on behalf of the poor, using any money that accompanied them to fund her centers. By 1990 over 3,000 nuns belonged to the Missionaries of Charity, running centers in 25 countries. The Blessed Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. The beatification of Mother Teresa was conducted Oct. 19, 2003 by Pope John Paul II. On September 4, 2016, Mother Teresa was canonized a saint by Pope Francis.
St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.
Feast Day: September 5th.