Mother Teresa

 

Mother Teresa, whose original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born on August 26, 1910 in what is now Skopje, Macedonia. She always wrote her birthday as the 27th of August because that was the day of her baptism, which was always more important to her than her birth. For her work with the poor around the world she received the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. 


 

In 1982, at the height of the siege in Beirut, Mother Teresa rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas. Accompanied by Red Cross workers, she traveled through the war zone to the devastated hospital to evacuate the young patients.
When the walls of Eastern Europe collapsed, she expanded her efforts to communist countries that had previously rejected the Missionaries of Charity, embarking on dozens of projects. She was undeterred by criticism about her firm stand against abortion and divorce stating, "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work."
Mother Teresa traveled to assist and minister to the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her homeland and opened a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana, Albania.
By 1996, she was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries. Over the years, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers around the world. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United States was established in the South Bronx, New York; by 1984 the order operated nineteen establishments throughout the country. 


 

Mother Teresa was the youngest child of Nikola and Drane Bojaxhiu and was originally named 'Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu'. Agnes received her first communion at the age of five. From her childhood, she attended prayers and devoted herself in the worship of the Almighty. When Agnes was eight years old, her father died, because of which, the family faced financial crisis. Drane Bojaxhiu, then, assumed the dual role - of being a mother and a father - and helped her children develop a good character. 

 

Agnes decided to become a Catholic nun, in order to do missionary work and spread the message of love and compassion in the world. In 1928, she became a Catholic nun and changed her name from Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to Teresa. Later on, she joined the Irish order 'The Sisters of Loretto'. In order to carry out missionary work in India, she was sent to Calcutta on 6^th January 1929, where she was appointed as a teacher at St. Mary's High School. Sister Teresa became Mother Teresa on 24^th May 1937, when she made final Profession of Vows to become the ‘Spouse of Jesus for Eternity’. She continued to work as a teacher. In 1944, she was made the Principal of the school. 

  

Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary’s High School from 1931 to 1948. The condition of poor people outside the convent made such a deep impact on her that she decided to serve the destitute. In 1948, she was granted permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and take on the task of serving the poor slum dwellers in Calcutta. Although she had no funds, it was her determination that kept her going. With strong faith on the Divine Providence, she started an open-air school for slum children. Soon, she was joined by volunteer helpers. Financial assistance started pouring in. This made it possible for Mother Teresa to extend the scope of her social service.

 

Mother Teresa’s work was not limited to teaching the poor children; she also educated the adults. As she traveled across the slum areas of Calcutta, she noticed that there was a lack of basic facilities, such as hospitals and clinics, for the poor. Hence, she learnt some basic medication techniques and started giving treatment to those who could not afford medication. Her efforts influenced her former pupils to form a group known as ‘Missionaries of Charity’. The group soon started a facility wherein poor people, who were dying on the streets, were brought and taken care of. The service inspired people to join the noble cause and donate funds for the organization working under Mother Teresa.

 

Mother Teresa made use of the donations and thousands of missionaries who had joined her, for the establishment of several centers for poor and needy people across the world. In 1980, she started Homes for people with no one to look after them, people suffering from various incurable diseases, prostitutes, drug addicts and orphans. One of her most significant works was the establishment of center for AIDS patients in 1985, wherein thousands of patients were provided shelter. The Missionaries of Charity was officially recognized as an International Association, on March 29, 1969. By the beginning of 1990s, the number of co-workers had increased manifold and there were about a million of them, working in about 40 countries across the world.  

 

 

During the last years of her life, despite facing several health problems, Mother Teresa continued to serve the poor and needy and work for her Society and Church. By 1997, Mother Teresa’s Sisters numbered nearly 4000, working in about 610 foundations in 123 countries across the world. Her newly-elected successor was appointed the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, in March 1997. After meeting Pope John Paul II, she returned to Calcutta, where she spent her last weeks receiving visitors and giving instructions to her Sisters. 

 

 

 

Mother Teresa Quotes

“I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?” — 1974 interview.

“When I see waste here, I feel angry on the inside. I don’t approve of myself getting angry. But it’s something you can’t help after seeing Ethiopia.” — Washington 1984.

“I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.” — Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, 1979.

“I have never been in a war before, but I have seen famine and death. I was asking (myself), ‘What do they feel when they do this?’ I don’t understand it. They are all children of God. Why do they do it? I don’t understand.” — Beirut 1982, during fighting between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas.

“Please choose the way of peace. … In the short term there may be winners and losers in this war that we all dread. But that never can, nor never will justify the suffering, pain and loss of life your weapons will cause.” — Letter to U.S. President George Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, January 1991.

“Abortion is murder in the womb … A child is a gift of God. If you do not want him, give him to me.”

“God will find another person, more humble, more devoted, more obedient to him, and the society will go on.” — Calcutta 1989, after announcing her intention to retire.

“I was expecting to be free, but God has his own plans.” — Calcutta 1990, when the sisters of her order persuaded her to withdraw her resignation.

“The other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven. And St. Peter said, ‘Go back to Earth. There are no slums up here.’” — Quoted as telling Prince Michael of Greece in 1996.

“I once picked up a woman from a garbage dump and she was burning with fever; she was in her last days and her only lament was: ‘My son did this to me.’ I begged her: You must forgive your son. In a moment of madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets. Be a mother to him, forgive him. It took me a long time to make her say: ‘I forgive my son.’ Just before she died in my arms, she was able to say that with a real forgiveness. She was not concerned that she was dying. The breaking of the heart was that her son did not want her. This is something you and I can understand.”