Famous woman: Mother Teresa - God's gift to humanity

Famous woman: Mother Teresa – God’s gift to humanity

Mother Teresa – God’s gift to humanity – dedicated a major part of her life to serve the poor and destitute. Born as an Albanian, getting an Indian nationality later on, she became the Mother of the sick, destitute as well as impoverished.

The Roman Catholic nun was the founder of Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in India. All through her life, Mother Teresa helped and served people suffering from various incurable diseases, affected by natural calamities and those unwanted by the society. Love, humanity and helping others selflessly were her reasons to live on Earth.

Information
Born on 26 August 1910
Born in Skopje, Macedonia
Died on 05 September 1997
Nationality Albania

Childhood
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. Under the influence and guidance of her mother and a priest, Agnes decided to carry out missionary work.

Career
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 6th January 1929, where she was appointed as a teacher at St. Mary’s High School. Sister Teresa became Mother Teresa on 24th 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.

Global Recognition
Mother Teresa’s service to humanity received worldwide recognition. She stood as the icon of peace, love and compassion. Her determination to serve the poor and needy fetched her about 124 prestigious awards, including ‘Padmashree Award’ (in 1962 from the President of India), ‘John F. Kennedy International Award (1971), ‘Bharat Ratna’ , ‘Order of Merit’ from Queen Elizabeth, ‘Nobel Peace Prize’ (1979), The Pope John XXIII Peace Prize’, ‘Medal of Freedom’ (the highest US Civilian award) and many more.