Mother Teresa - A real Mother through her work

 

This is the story of mother Teresa's life from her early years to the present day. We take a look at what influenced this woman who would go on to live into old age (age 96) while overcoming many challenges.

Mother Teresa was born in 1910 into a large poor family in rural India. Her father, who had died when she was eight years old, had been a devout Catholic priest. At age 14 she joined the Sisters of the Servants of Mary. She was educated at the Loreto Convent in Kolkata (Calcutta) where her love of people began. Over time, she became known as a healer and caretaker at local hospitals.

In 1948, Teresa started her own mission house in Calcutta and later founded Missionaries of Charity, a worldwide order that provides healthcare and social services. In 1981 Pope John Paul II recognized her as a saint. Today, her work continues through her Order’s various programs in health care, education, social welfare, and peace-building.

In 1929, Teresa had a vision of Jesus Christ which she described later that year in her autobiography 'The Story Of A Soul'. She writes about how her life changed when God spoke to her. 'I felt myself carried away from everything, not knowing where I was going and yet compelled to go.' She went to live with a group of friars at the Convent of St Clare in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. Here she encountered the suffering of the sick and dying, and began to understand what was needed spiritually to help them. Then, one day, while in prayer, she heard someone call out to her. On opening her eyes, she saw two Indian men who were blind. They told her that they could see well enough to tell the difference between different kinds of fruit but they could not distinguish their own faces from each other's. This image stayed with her and she decided to devote her life to helping the poor. Her order has now grown to some 8500 members worldwide.

She became concerned about the treatment of women, especially those who were raped by soldiers during the Spanish Civil War. In 1937 she founded the Missionaries of Charity, named after St Claire of Assisi, to care for the sick and dying. Their mission statement says: 'We are called upon to share our love, help the needy, serve the poorest, do works of charity and mercy...' - this includes feeding the hungry, giving shelter and clothing to the homeless, caring for old people and sick people, and welcoming everyone into the Order regardless of race, colour, gender or religion. There have been disputes over whether she should speak publicly, but she has always defended herself saying, 'If we could not defend ourselves, if we were like sheep who need a shepherd, then we would deserve no better than to be slaughtered.'

She once said, 'You cannot change anyone unless you love him first. If you really want to make a difference, you have to show others you love them first. Love changes things; hate doesn't.' She wrote many books, including her autobiography 'My Autobiography', published in 1968. Her last book, 'Love That Changes Everything', was written in 1990 and finished shortly before she died.

Mother Teresa was born into a family of farmers in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian Catholic parents. She grew up in Santo Domingo, India where her mother served the poor. In 1931, at age 20, she entered the order of the Missionaries of Charity. After years of service in Calcutta, Darjeeling, and other Indian locations, she moved to Latin America, arriving in San José, Costa Rica in 1946. There she founded and became head of the first home for abandoned children in Central America. Her work has become known around the world, and she has been declared Saint by the Vatican.

 In her youth she was extremely attracted to physical suffering and wanted to devote herself entirely to helping people who were sick and in need. But then at age 19, while visiting a leper colony, she contracted leprosy. She had no choice but to leave that life behind. Her father was disappointed and even refused to speak to her for a long time. He would later come to accept her decision to become a nun.

2. At first her superiors didn't want her to go into nursing because they said it wasn't a respectable job. But mother Teresa believed that God called her to serve the poorest of the poor. And after being treated for leprosy, she began working among the sick at San Juan de Dios Hospital in Calcutta (now Kolkata). After two years of training, she became a Sister of Saint Francis of Rome, taking the name María Teresa de Jesus Ávila y Camacho.

3. One day, Mother Teresa met some nuns from Spain. They asked her if she'd like to move back home. She thought about this for a long time and finally agreed to go. She had been given the gift of healing touch, which she used to help others heal themselves. She also helped them find faith.

4. After six months, Mother Teresa returned to India to continue serving the poor. She founded Missionaries of Charity, devoted to caring for the destitute. The mission grew rapidly; today, millions of people are cared for around the world.

5. As Mother Teresa's health deteriorated in old age, she continued to work tirelessly. Even though she could walk only a short distance, she still went out to visit patients.

6. In 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable. This means that he deemed her to have lived a truly virtuous life according to Catholic doctrine. In 1995, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her dedication to helping the needy.

You may think that Mother Teresa was born into wealth but she actually had no family to speak of. She did manage to take care of her mother after their father died at a young age. Her story starts to unfold when she becomes pregnant at 17 years old. She gives birth to Jesus, named him “God’s Gift to Mankind,” and brought him up herself until he became a man. When he was 18, he left home to study medicine. He returned some months later and married his first wife. Their marriage was not going well. However, God intervened and gave them 10 children between the two of them. After 15 years of marriage, they separated. This was followed by many trials and tribulations before she finally decided to dedicate her life to helping others through the order of sisters Missionaries of Charity. While working with the poor, she realized that they were suffering from sickness, hunger, poverty, misery, and sorrow. She even went so far as to say that it was easier for her to die than live without doing anything to help them.

1. Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She became known for her humanitarian work around the world and eventually rose to sainthood in 2013.

2. As a young girl she was influenced by the teachings of St. John Bosco, a renowned Jesuit priest of the 19th century. He encouraged students to help the poor, give alms, fast often and pray frequently.

3. At age 14, she entered the Sisters of Charity order, where she first worked as a teacher for children with disabilities. She later moved to India, where she founded several schools, orphanages, hospitals and clinics.

4. Her work caught the attention of Pope Paul VI, who sent her to Calcutta, India, in 1962 to lead the Missionaries of Charity. Over the years, she earned numerous awards for her charitable works, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

5. She died in 1997 at age 87 from complications related to lung disease.