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MOTHER TERESA

BLESSED MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA, BORN AGNES GONXHA BOJAXHIU AND COMMONLY KNOWN AS MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA."BY BLOOD, I AM ALBANIAN. BY CITIZENSHIP, AN INDIAN. BY FAITH, I AM A CATHOLIC NUN.

BORN: AUGUST 27, 1910, SKOPJE DIED: SEPTEMBER 5, 1997, KOLKATA FULL NAME: AGNES GONXHA BOJAXHIU EDUCATION: LORETO ABBEY, RATHFARNHAM (1928 1929)

THE HOUSE OF MOTHER TERESA

AWARDS: NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, BHARAT RATNA, PADMA SHRI, PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AWARD, GOLDEN HONOR OF THE NATION, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING.

IN 1919, WHEN MOTHER TERESA WAS ONLY EIGHT YEARS OLD, HER FATHER SUDDENLY FELL ILL AND DIED. WHILE THE CAUSE OF HIS DEATH REMAINS UNKNOWN, MANY HAVE SPECULATED THAT POLITICAL ENEMIES POISONED HIM.

AFTER HER FATHER'S DEATH, MOTHER TERESA BECAME EXTRAORDINARILY CLOSE TO HER MOTHER,
A PIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE WOMAN WHO INSTILLED IN HER DAUGHTER A DEEP COMMITMENT TO CHARITY, ALTHOUGH BY NO MEANS OF WEALTHY.

AT THAT TIME MOTHER TERESAS MIND WAS SET UP WITH THE IDEA OF HELPING TO OTHERS.
IN 1928, AN 18 YEAR OLD AGNES BOJAXHIU
DECIDED TO BECOME A NUN AND SET OFF FOR IRELAND TO JOIN THE LORETO SISTERS OF DUBLIN.

AFTERWARD SHE WAS SENT TO CALCUTTA, WHERE SHE WAS ASSIGNED TO TEACH AT SAINT MARY'S HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, A SCHOOL RUN BY THE LORETO SISTERS AND DEDICATED TO TEACHING GIRLS FROM THE CITY'S POOREST BENGALI FAMILIES.

AFTER A SHORT COURSE WITH THE MEDICAL MISSION SISTERS IN PATNA, MOTHER TERESA RETURNED TO CALCUTTA AND FOUND TEMPORARY LODGING WITH THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR. ON 21 DECEMBER SHE WENT FOR THE FIRST TIME TO THE SLUMS. SHE VISITED FAMILIES, WASHED THE SORES OF SOME CHILDREN, CARED FOR AN OLD MAN LYING
SICK ON THE ROAD AND NURSED A WOMAN DYING OF HUNGER AND TB.

FOUNDATIONS ESTABLISHED BY MOTHER TERESA

IN 1950, THE CHARITY.

MISSIONARIES

OF

IN 1963, THE MISSIONARIES CHARITY BROTHERS.

OF

IN

1979

THE

CONTEMPLATIVE

BROTHERS.

IN 1984 THE

MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY FATHERS.

THE CO-WORKERS OF MOTHER TERESA AND THE SICK AND SUFFERING CO-WORKERS.

DURING THE YEARS OF RAPID GROWTH THE


WORLD BEGAN TO TURN ITS EYES TOWARDS MOTHER TERESA AND THE WORK SHE HAD STARTED.

NUMEROUS AWARDS, BEGINNING WITH THE INDIAN PADMASHRI AWARD IN 1962 AND NOTABLY THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE IN 1979.

THE WHOLE OF MOTHER TERESAS LIFE AND LABOUR BORE WITNESS TO THE JOY OF LOVING,
THE GREATNESS AND DIGNITY OF EVERY HUMAN PERSON.

THE VALUE OF LITTLE THINGS DONE FAITHFULLY AND WITH LOVE, AND THE SURPASSING WORTH OF FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.

DURING THE LAST YEARS OF HER LIFE, DESPITE INCREASINGLY SEVERE HEALTH PROBLEMS, MOTHER TERESA CONTINUED TO GOVERN HER SOCIETY AND RESPOND TO THE NEEDS OF THE POOR AND THE CHURCH.
BY 1997, MOTHER TERESAS SISTERS NUMBERED NEARLY 4,000 MEMBERS AND WERE ESTABLISHED IN 610 FOUNDATIONS IN 123 COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD.

SHE SPENT HER FINAL WEEKS IN CALCUTTA RECEIVING VISITORS AND INSTRUCTING HER SISTERS.

ON 5 SEPTEMBER, 1997
EARTHLY LIFE

MOTHER TERESAS CAME TO AN END.

SHE WAS GIVEN THE HONOUR OF A STATE FUNERAL BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND HER BODY WAS BURIED IN THE MOTHER HOUSE OF THE MISSIONARIES OF CHARITY.

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