Joshua Bennett
Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was a Catholic nun and the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to serving the poor. She was born in 1910 in Skopje, North Macedonia (then part of the Ottoman Empire), to parents of Albanian descent. At the age of twelve, she felt a strong calling to devote her life to Christ and decided to become a nun at the age of eighteen. She joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India, and took her initial vows as a nun in 1931. Mother Teresa's work with the poor and hungry began in 1948, and in 1950 she received permission from the Vatican to establish her own order, the Missionaries of Charity. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was canonized as a saint in 2016.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Born | Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu |
| Birthplace | Skopje, North Macedonia |
| Date of Birth | 26 August 1910 |
| Parents | Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Calling | To devote her life to Christ |
| Year of becoming a nun | 1928 |
| First Vow as a nun | 24 May 1931 |
| Founder of | The Order of the Missionaries of Charity |
| Year of founding | 1950 |
| Purpose of the Order | To help the poor while living among them |
| Awards | 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize, 1971 Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, 1972 Nehru Prize, 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, 1979 Balzan Prize, 1979 Templeton and Magsaysay awards, Bharat Ratna |
| Died | 5 September 1997 |
| Canonized as Saint | 2016 |
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What You'll Learn
Mother Teresa's early life
Mother Teresa, known for her selfless dedication to serving the poor and destitute, had a profound impact on the world. Her early life laid the foundation for her future path and shaped her into the iconic figure we know today.
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, then part of the Ottoman Empire. She was the youngest child of Nikollë Bojaxhiu, a successful businessman, and Drane Bojaxhiu, a woman known for her deep faith and charitable works. From a young age, Agnes was exposed to her mother's charitable activities, often accompanying her on visits to the poor and sick. These experiences left a lasting impression and instilled in her a sense of compassion and a desire to help those in need.
Agnes received her early education at a girls' school run by Jesuit priests, where she excelled academically and was known for her strong will and deep faith. At the age of 18, she joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in Calcutta, India. She left her family and home in September 1928 and traveled to Ireland to join the order, attracted by their work in foreign missions. On reaching Dublin, she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse de Lisieux.
In December 1929, Sister Teresa arrived in Calcutta, where she was assigned to the Loreto Convent School. She made her first religious profession of vows as a nun on May 24, 1931, choosing the name Teresa to honor Saints Thérèse of Lisieux and Teresa of Ávila. Over the next decade, she taught at the Loreto convent school and became its principal in 1944. During this time, she felt a calling to serve the poorest of the poor, a desire that grew stronger after a transformative train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling in 1946, where she felt a "call within a call" to work among the destitute.
On October 7, 1950, Mother Teresa received Vatican permission and founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation dedicated to the poor. She donned for the first time a white sari with blue border, which would become the distinctive garment of her order. With initial members comprising former students and pupils, the congregation quickly grew, attracting members worldwide. The order's primary mission was to provide comfort and care to those living in the most abject poverty, tending to the sick, the dying, and children abandoned or orphaned.
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Her call to become a nun
Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born into a Catholic family of Albanian descent in 1910. At the age of twelve, she felt a strong calling to devote her life to Christ. Six years later, in 1928, she decided to become a nun and joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, Ireland.
In 1929, she travelled to Darjeeling, India, for the novitiate period. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun and became known as Sister Mary Teresa, named after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. However, the poverty and suffering she witnessed outside the convent walls led her to request permission from her superiors in 1948 to leave and devote herself to serving the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.
In September 1946, while on a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa experienced what she described as a "call within a call". She felt called by God to start a new religious community that would live and work with the poorest of the poor. After two years of discernment, she received permission to found the Missionaries of Charity, which was officially established in 1950.
Mother Teresa began wearing a simple white cotton sari with a blue border, which later became the habit for the nuns who worked alongside her. She walked through the slums, caring for the sick and dying, and gradually her community grew as more women joined her mission. The Missionaries of Charity built schools, orphanages, housing for the blind, aged, disabled, and leper colonies, and hospices for the terminally ill.
Mother Teresa dedicated her life to serving the poorest of the poor and was recognised as one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century. She received numerous awards, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, for her tireless work in alleviating poverty and promoting peace worldwide.
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Founding the Order of the Missionaries of Charity
Mother Teresa, originally known as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia. She came from a family of Albanian descent and was deeply religious from a young age. At the age of 18, inspired by the stories of missionary nuns in Bengal, she decided to join the Loreto Sisters, a group of Irish nuns with missions in India. In December 1928, she left her home for the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnham, Dublin, to begin her journey as a nun. She never saw her family again.
On May 24, 1931, she made her First Profession of Vows and took the name Teresa, after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries. She then set sail for Calcutta, where she taught at the St. Mary's High School for girls, run by the Loreto Sisters. For the next 17 years, she taught geography and catechism, and she was loved by her students for her gentle and compassionate nature.
However, Mother Teresa's calling to serve the poorest of the poor began on September 10, 1946, during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling. On this day, she received what she described as a "call within a call"—a divine inspiration to leave the convent and devote herself to working with the destitute and sick in the slums. After receiving permission from the Vatican, she founded a new order, the Missionaries of Charity, on October 7, 1950.
Mother Teresa's founding of the Missionaries of Charity was a direct response to her calling to serve the poorest of the poor. The order was established with the specific aim of caring for those who were neglected and forgotten by society. She wanted her sisters to "quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the Cross for the salvation of souls" by serving "Christ in the poor." This mission statement guided the work of the order and its members.
The early days of the order were marked by Mother Teresa's unwavering determination and humble beginnings. She started by gathering a small group of young women who were willing to follow her and dedicate their lives to serving the needy. These women, along with Mother Teresa, received basic medical training and began their work among the sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta. They provided comfort, care, and dignity to those who were otherwise left to die on the streets.
As the group became more organized, they established their first home for the dying, which they named Nirmal Hriday, meaning "Pure Heart." Here, they offered shelter, food, and medical care to those who had nowhere else to turn. They also opened a school for street children, demonstrating their commitment to not only providing immediate relief but also offering long-term solutions to break the cycle of poverty.
The sisters of the order took vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, as well as a fourth vow—to serve the poorest of the poor. They lived among the people they served, sharing their living conditions and depending on donations for their own sustenance. This complete dedication to a life of poverty and service set an example for others and inspired many to join their cause or support their work.
Over time, the order expanded its reach beyond India. In 1965, Mother Teresa opened a home for HIV/AIDS patients in the Bronx, New York, marking the beginning of her international mission. This was followed by the establishment of homes, orphanages, and leprosy clinics across the globe, including in Rome, Tanzania, and Venezuela. By the time of Mother Teresa's death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity had grown significantly, with thousands of sisters running hundreds of homes, schools, and clinics worldwide.
The legacy of Mother Teresa and the order she founded continues to inspire and guide those dedicated to serving the poorest and most vulnerable members of society.
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Recognition and awards
Mother Teresa received numerous awards and honours throughout her life, including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969, the Padma Shri in 1962, the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Pacem in Terris Award in 1976, the Balzan Prize in 1979, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Bharat Ratna in 1980, and the Order of Merit in 1983.
In addition to these awards, Mother Teresa was also appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1982 and received honorary citizenship of the United States in 1996. Her Albanian homeland awarded her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994. After her death in 1997, Mother Teresa was beatified in 2003 and canonised as a saint in 2016.
Mother Teresa's work and dedication to helping the poor and sick have been recognised and acclaimed worldwide. Her efforts to improve the lives of those in need have inspired books, documentaries, and films, as well as the establishment of the Mother Teresa Awards (officially called the Mother Teresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice), which are presented annually to honour individuals and organisations that promote peace, equality, and social justice.
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Her death and canonisation
Mother Teresa died on 5 September 1997 in Kolkata, India, just days after her 87th birthday. Her death was caused by cardiac arrest, following a heart attack in 1989 and a subsequent worsening heart condition. At the time of her death, her order included hundreds of centres in over 90 countries, with 4,000 nuns and hundreds of thousands of lay workers.
Within two years of her death, the process to declare her a saint was begun, and Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process of canonisation. The first step towards canonisation is the declaration of the deceased as a 'Servant of God', followed by beatification and finally, canonisation. Typically, there is a minimum five-year waiting period after a person's death before they can be declared a 'Servant of God', but Pope John Paul II waived three of the five years in Mother Teresa's case.
Mother Teresa was beatified in 2003, in what was then the shortest time in the history of the Church. Beatification requires proof of the prospective saint's heroic virtue, for which postulator Brian Kolodiejchuk submitted 76 documents, totalling 35,000 pages, based on interviews with 113 witnesses.
The final step towards canonisation is the documentation of a miracle resulting from the intercession of the prospective saint. In 2002, the Vatican recognised as a miracle the healing of Monica Besra, an Indian woman with a tumour in her abdomen, on the first anniversary of Mother Teresa's death in 1998. According to Besra, a beam of light emanated from a locket containing Teresa's picture, and she was cured.
In 2015, the Vatican recognised a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa: the healing of a Brazilian man with multiple brain tumours in 2008. Finally, on 4 September 2016, Mother Teresa was canonised as St Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis in St Peter's Square in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of people witnessed the ceremony, including 15 government delegations and 1,500 homeless people from across Italy.
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Frequently asked questions
Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was a Catholic nun and the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor.
Mother Teresa decided to become a nun at the age of 18 and joined the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, Ireland. In May 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun.
Mother Teresa came from a devoutly Catholic family. She first felt a calling to religious life at the age of 12 when she went on a religious pilgrimage. She knew she wanted to be a missionary and spread the love of Christ.
Mother Teresa travelled to India in 1929 as a teacher. From 1931 to 1948, she taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. However, she was deeply impacted by the poverty and suffering she witnessed outside the convent walls. In 1948, she began missionary work with the poor, wearing a simple white cotton sari with a blue border.
Mother Teresa received numerous awards for her humanitarian work, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was also awarded the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), the Nehru Prize (1972), the Balzan Prize (1979), and the Magsaysay Award.
