Biography of Mother Teresa

Biography of Mother Teresa

Mother   Teresa::-- (1910–1997)      

    was    a  Roman Catholic nun   who devoted  her   life  to   serving the poor and   destitute around  the world.   She spent many years in Calcutta, India where she founded   the       Missionaries   of                 Charity,      a religious         congregation    devoted     to   helping those    in great  need.  In     1979, Mother Teresa was   awarded        the        Nobel    Peace   Prize and became a symbol of charitable, selfless work. In 2016, Mother Teresa  was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa.

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we  put   in  the doing.   It is      not how   much   we give,    but  how           much    love     we    put  in          the giving.”

– Mother Teresa. From: No Greater Love

Mother Teresa:-

    Mother     Teresa          was  born  in 1910  in Skopje, the capital of the   Republic   of Macedonia. Little is known about her early life, but at a   young   age,  she  felt  a calling  to   be a nun and serve through helping the poor. At the age of 18, she  was given permission to  join  a group  of nuns   in  Ireland. After a few   months of training, with the Sisters of Loreto, she was then    given permission    to travel   to India. She took    her    formal religious  vows    in  1931  and chose to be named after St Therese of Lisieux – the patron saint of missionaries.

On her arrival in   India,  she   began by  working as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of  Calcutta     made   a deep impression   on her, and this  led to her  starting a new order called “The   Missionaries  of       Charity”.  The     primary objective  of this    mission      was    to  look   after people,  who  nobody            else  was  prepared  to look       after.     Mother    Teresa     felt that  serving others was     a          fundamental  principle   of the teachings    of           Jesus  Christ.              She            often mentioned the saying of Jesus,

“Whatever you do to  the  least  of my brethren, you do it to me.”

As Mother Teresa said herself:

“Love      cannot     remain   by  itself     – it       has no meaning.  Love has     to be put into action,  and that action is service .” – Mother Teresa

mother-Teresa She     experienced            two particularly traumatic periods in Calcutta. The first   was the Bengal  famine of 1943   and    the second    was  the    Hindu/Muslim    violence      in 1946,   before the  partition  of India.  In        1948, she left the convent to live full-time among the poorest  of   Calcutta.       She  chose     to      wear  a white  Indian     sari, with   a blue  border, out       of respect     for  the traditional       Indian dress.  For many years,  Mother Teresa and  a small  band of   fellow     nuns    survived  on minimal   income and food,   often having  to beg for     funds. But, slowly her efforts with the poorest were noted and  appreciated  by the   local community  and Indian politicians.

In  1952,   she  opened her  first  home    for       the dying, which       allowed     people    to              die  with dignity.   Mother  Teresa  often   spent time with those  who    were   dying.  Some have criticised the lack of proper medical attention,  and their refusal  to  give painkillers.   Others     say  that  it afforded               many           neglected      people          the opportunity     to  die  knowing that             someone cared.

Her  work   spread around the   world.  By  2013, there   were   700    missions   operating     in   over 130 countries.     The  scope  of their work    also expanded          to     include          orphanages              and hospices for those with terminal illnesses.

“Not all of   us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Mother Teresa :

Biography of Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa never  sought  to convert those of another faith.   Those   in    her hospices were given  the    religious  rites   appropriate  to   their faith. However,    she  had  a  very  firm    Catholic faith  and     took  a strict     line    on  abortion,   the death    penalty         and ,    divorce     –  even   if    her position   was   unpopular. Her  whole     life   was influenced    by    her    faith      and     religion,     even though at  times she confessed she didn’t feel the presence of God.

The       Missionaries        of      Charity                now     have branches      throughout              the world    including branches     in  the  developed world  where they work   with   the  homeless and people affected by AIDS. In 1965, the organization became an International  Religious  Family  by   a  decree of Pope Paul VI.

In  the   1960s,   the life  of Mother   Teresa    was brought    to    wider   public     attention   by Malcolm    Muggeridge  who  wrote  a book and produced  a     documentary  called  “Something Beautiful   for      God”.   Mandela-teresaIn    1979, she  was awarded  the Nobel   Peace  Prize “for work undertaken  in the   struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat     to            peace.”   She        didn’t       attend     the ceremonial            banquet     but  asked    that           the $192,000 fund be given to the poor.

In later years, she was more active in western developed countries.  She        commented      that though the    West was    materially prosperous, there was often a spiritual poverty.

“The  hunger for  love is much more difficult  to remove than the hunger for bread.”

Mother Teresa :

Mother Teresa with children

When she     was  asked  how to  promote world peace,  she       replied,” Go    home  and    love your family”.

Over  the  last two decades   of  her  life, Mother Teresa suffered various health    problems, but nothing could dissuade  her  from fulfilling  her mission  of serving  the   poor and  needy.   Until her      very       last     illness       she       was        active  in traveling around   the      world   to     the   different branches of         The        Missionaries    of    Charity. During her  last few     years,  she   met   Princess Diana in  the  Bronx,   New York.   The    two   died within a week of each other.

Following   Mother Teresa’s death, the   Vatican began  the      process of beatification,    which is the second    step   on the way  to    canonization and  sainthood.   Mother    Teresa  was  formally beatified  in October  2003  by  Pope John Paul II.                        In    September       2015,   Pope        Francis declared:

“Mother  Teresa,  in all  aspects of her  life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself    available   for    everyone    through       her welcome  and defense       of  human    life,    those unborn and those abandoned  and discarded,” 

“She       bowed  down    before    those    who  were spent,  left  to die  on   the side     of               the   road, seeing    in     them their  God-given  dignity.     She made   her       voice heard   before the powers  of this  world  so that  they   might recognize their guilt    for the      crime    of  poverty they created.” Mother   Teresa was a living saint who  offered a great example and inspiration to the world.

Awards are given to Mother Teresa:

• The       first        Pope      John        XXIII     Peace   Prize. (1971)
• Kennedy Prize (1971)
• The     Nehru     Prize    –“for the                promotion  of international  peace   and understanding”(1972)
• Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975),
• The Nobel Peace Prize (1979)
• States     Presidential       Medal   of                     Freedom (1985)
• Congressional Gold Medal (1994)
• U Thant Peace Award 1994
• Honorary     citizenship   of the    United           States (November 16, 1996)