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Mother
Teresa 1910-1997
"A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been
created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God,
is in a tremendous poverty."
"My gift is the ability to see the face of Jesus in its
most distressing disguise."
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Growing up in Albania
Born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje in Macedonia, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhia
was the youngest of three children of an Albanian family. As she was pink
and plump, her brothers and sisters fondly called her "Gonxha" (flower bud).
From childhood the children were taught the lessons of charity. Agnes liked
to be in church, reading, praying and singing.
When she was quite young, she felt the desire to spend her entire life
for God and His work. For this decision, she was helped by a father to whom
she confessed her desire. At the age of 18 she joined the Loreto Sisters who
were very active in India. She was trained in religious activities. She
choose the name Sister Teresa. In 1929 Sister Teresa was assigned to teach
at the St Mary's Convent School in Calcutta, India.
The call from Jesus
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| While working, whenever she
used to find time, she used to look after the sick. On May 24, 1937, she
took her final vows as a nun in Darjeeling. Her journey to Darjeeling in
September 1947 was, perhaps, the most important journey of her life.
Here she heard God's voice -- the message was "to leave the convent and
help the poorest of poor and to live with them." She said it was an
order and had to be obeyed. |
Make us worthy, Lord
To serve our fellow men
Throughout the world who live and die
In poverty or hunger.
Give them, through our hands
This day their daily bread,
And by our understanding love,
Give peace and joy. |
At first she did not get the permission to leave the convent but in 1948
she got the permission specifically from Pope Pius XIII to leave the the
Loreto community and work among the city's poor. Since then, she has
remained a guardian angel for the sick and dying the world over. She chose
to wear the plain white sari with the blue border and a simple cross pinned
to her left shoulder.
Mother's Foundations
Mother's Order, founded in 1947, has nearly 4000 nuns running orphanages,
homes of poor, AIDS hospices and other charitable centers around the world.
In 1948, she opened the first school for slum children in Calcutta. She
used to help the poor and taught them about hygiene. In 1952, she opened
Nirmal Hriday (or Pure hearts), a home for the dying. On the very first day,
Mother Teresa picked up a woman literally half-eaten by rats and ants and
carried her to the home and cleaned her. This Home for Dying became more and
more popular where the dying who had no place to go were brought and were
given proper medical treatment.
Another of Mother's foundations was Shishu Bhavan -- the home for babies.
Children whose parents cannot care them, or whose parents have left them on
the streets.
Mother Teresa also started a colony for lepers where they could build
their own houses and could work on their own fields. The colony was called
Shanti Nagar. The biggest problem, according to her, was not the disease but
the lack of love and charity, the feeling of being unwanted.
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