Tuesday 7 July 2015

A Woman Who Shaped History – Mother Teresa (1910-1997)



Mother Teresa was an inspirational figure.  She was in fact Albanian, being born in Skopje (which is now part of Macedonia).  At 18 she became a nun.  So young to make such a huge decision!

Her birth name was Agnes but, as is customary, on taking her vows, she took another name and became Sister Teresa.

In 1929 she started working in Calcutta as a teacher and did that for nearly 20 years.  She was so upset by the suffering on the streets that in 1946 she decided to devote her life to working for the poor.

She founded the Missionaries of Charity.  Their vows had the 3 usual ones – poverty, chastity and obedience – but also had another one pledging service to the poor.

Mother Teresa was awarded the 1975 Nobel Prize for peace and the Catholic Church has the sainthood process under way for her.

Apparently when people would ask what they could do to assist her, she used to tell them 'to find their own Calcutta'.  Meaning that if you want to work for a charity you need to find one that is the most meaningful to you.

1 comment:

  1. I remember when she passed away it was in August of 1997! right by the time Princess you know who passed the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry oh my I worked in a retail place they went crazy over the fact of Princess Diana's passing only one lady my age was so upset over Mother Teresa...I thought what a wonderful human being, advocating for the poorest of the poor the Lepers in Calcutta and only seeing the love and God in each person's face..I like to help and love our fellow human beings, there should be more Mother Teresa's in this world..It is about your soul, not money, power and wealth - She treated all people the way God treats us who are in his Likeness, she worked each day to help and love others truly seeing their hearts and souls and helping them to have hydration and hope..I say God bess well done Mother Teresa a true saint on this earth she was, thanks for reminding me of such a pure souled lover of God who acted out her faith on the streets of Calcutta!

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