Early Life

Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, now the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. She was the youngest child of Albanian-descent parents, Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu. Her family was relatively well-off and her father was a successful merchant and political activist.

Agnes's young life changed dramatically when her father died suddenly in 1919. After her father's death, her mother raised Agnes and her siblings alone. Dranafile, her mother, was a religious woman who was actively involved in the local church. She instilled in her children strong values of faith, compassion, and service to others.

Agnes attended local primary school and became very active in the local Catholic church community. She joined a Catholic youth group called the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and thrived in an environment that nurtured her spirituality. At the age of 12, she felt her first calling to religious life and decided to dedicate her life to God.

Call to Become a Nun

At the age of 18, Agnes left home and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. She never saw her mother or siblings again. She traveled to Ireland to learn English, and in 1929, she arrived in India. There she began her novitiate and took the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

On May 24, 1931, she took her first vows as a Loreto nun. She was then sent to the Loreto Convent in Entally, Calcutta, where she taught at St. Mary's High School for girls. In 1937, she took her final vows, adopting the name "Teresa" in accordance with St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

Sister Teresa taught at St. Mary's for almost two decades, becoming principal in 1944. While she was content with her work, she became increasingly disturbed by the poverty prevalent in Calcutta, especially after the Bengal famine of 1943 and the communal riots of 1946.

A Call Within a Call

On September 10, 1946, while on a train journey to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, Sister Teresa experienced what she described as "a call within a call." She felt Christ telling her to leave her teaching position and work in the slums of Calcutta to serve "the poorest of the poor."

It took almost two years to get permission to leave Loreto and begin her mission. In August 1948, with Vatican approval, she shed her Loreto habit and donned a simple white cotton sari with blue borders. She adopted Indian citizenship and spent several months with the Sisters of the Medical Mission in Patna for basic medical training.

On December 21, 1948, she entered the slums of Calcutta for the first time as a nun. She began her ministry with no funds, relying solely on Divine Providence. She started by opening a school for slum children and soon began caring for lepers and other sick and dying individuals.

Missionaries of Charity

In October 1950, Mother Teresa received permission to establish a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity. Its primary task was to "care for—the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, 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."

The congregation began as a small community with 13 members in Calcutta, but by the time of her death, it had grown into a global community with over 4,000 nuns running almost 600 missions, schools, and shelters in 123 countries. In addition to the Missionaries of Charity sisters, Mother Teresa also established branches for brothers, a contemplative branch for sisters and brothers, and a congregation of priests. She also formed the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Lay Missionaries of Charity.

The work carried out by the Missionaries of Charity included running homes for people who were dying of AIDS, homes for those with leprosy, outpatient clinics, family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools. Their work has catered to the needs of thousands of people of all faiths. Mother Teresa never refused to care for someone because of their religion. She insisted that her help should be free and without prejudice.

International Recognition

Mother Teresa's work began to attract international attention in the 1960s, partly due to the documentary "Something Beautiful for God" by Malcolm Muggeridge. She received numerous awards and recognitions for her work, including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize (1962), Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), Nehru Prize (1972), and Templeton Prize (1973).

However, the most famous award she received was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Upon receiving the award, she declined the traditional ceremonial banquet and asked that the funds of $192,000 be used to "help our poor people." During the award ceremony, she wore the same white-blue sari that she wore in the streets.

Mother Teresa continued to receive various awards and recognitions throughout the remainder of her life, including the Order of Merit from Queen Elizabeth II and the US Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985. In 1983, Pope John Paul II, who had a close relationship with Mother Teresa, gave her the Benemerenti Medal.

Faith and the "Dark Night of the Soul"

Although the public knew Mother Teresa as a figure of remarkable spirituality, after her death, many of her letters were published revealing that she experienced a crisis of faith and a "dark night of the soul" for most of her life after 1948. She felt that she did not sense God's presence in her life despite continuing to give her life to the poor and suffering.

This very open admission of her spiritual struggles adds a new dimension to her figure. Many theologians and spiritual writers see this experience as a strong parallel with St. John of the Cross, who wrote poetry and spiritual reflections on the "dark night of the soul." Even in her inner struggles, Mother Teresa continued to work tirelessly for what she believed was God's calling for her.

Final Years and Legacy

From the late 1980s, Mother Teresa faced serious health problems. She suffered a heart attack in 1983 and in 1989, she suffered a second heart attack. In 1991, after catching pneumonia in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems. Although she tried to resign her position as head of the Missionaries of Charity, the nuns of her order elected her back.

In March 1997, Mother Teresa blessed her successor as Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, Sister Mary Nirmala Joshi. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. Her body was given a state funeral by the Government of India and her funeral ceremony was attended by representatives from more than 100 countries.

The process of Mother Teresa's beatification began in 1999, just two years after her death, following the special dispensation of the usual five-year rule to begin canonical proceedings by Pope John Paul II. She was beatified in October 2003 as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta" after the recognition of the first miracle: the healing of a tumor in the abdomen of an Indian woman. On September 4, 2016, she was canonized (declared a saint) by Pope Francis as "Saint Teresa of Calcutta" after the recognition of a second miracle.

Mother Teresa's legacy lives on through the Missionaries of Charity community, which continues to serve "the poorest of the poor" worldwide. Her life has become a symbol of service to humanity, compassion, and self-sacrifice, and her inspiration continues to encourage people to serve the most vulnerable in our society.

Inspirational Words of Mother Teresa