Mother Teresa

Background

The woman known as Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Skopje, North Macedonia. Her parents were Roman Catholics and she was raised as such. From a young age, Mother Teresa became fascinated by the stories of missionaries helping those in need around the world. By age 12, she had already decided to dedicate her life to the Roman Catholic religion and to be a missionary. When she turned 18, she decided to become a nun. Mother Teresa moved to Ireland. She joined the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey and there, she learned to speak English.

In 1929, Mother Teresa traveled from Ireland to India to teach at a girls’ school. It was 1946 when Mother Teresa’s life would change forever. She took a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, and on that ride, she received what she expressed as “a call within a call.” She found her life’s purpose; to help disadvantaged people living in the slums of Calcutta. This led to her becoming one of the greatest missionaries of all time. In 1950, Mother Teresa founded a religious congregation, the Missionaries of Charity. Members of the congregation take a vow of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Today, the Missionaries of Charity have over 5,000 nuns and volunteers helping in 133 countries around the world. The congregation offers homes for those dying of H.I.V./AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis; it also runs soup kitchens, schools for abandoned children, mobile clinics, and provides services to the communities.

In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work and services to the world. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at age 87. In 2016, Pope Francis recognized Mother Teresa as a saint.