Mother Teresa (1910-1997) Growing up in Albania Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, the youngest of three children of an Albanian builder, on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. She felt that August 27, 1910, the day of her baptism, was her true birthday. At the age of 18 she joined the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland. She trained in Dublin, where the motherhouse of the Loreto Sisters was. She chose the name of Sister Teresa, in memory of Saint Therese of Lisieux. In December, 1928, she began her journey to India and continued to Darjeeling, at the base of the Himalayan Mountains, where she would continue her training towards her religious vows. Soon after, on January 6, 1929, she arrived in Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, India to teach at a school for girls. While in Calcutta, she was moved by the presence of the sick and dying on the city's streets. On September 10, 1946, on the long train ride to Darjeeling where she was to go on a retreat and to recover from suspected tuberculosis, something happened. She had a life-changing encounter with the Living Presence of the Will of God. Mother Teresa recalls:"I realized that I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless - to be God's Love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity." She didn't hesitate, she didn't question. She asked permission to leave the Loreto congregation and to establish a new order of sisters. She received that permission from Pope Pius XII. Surely it was no coincidence that she chose a simple white sari with sapphire blue bands (representing God's Will) as her order's garment. In 1952 Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity began the work for which they have been noted ever since. Her order received permission from Calcutta officials to use a portion of the abandoned temple to Kali, the Hindu goddess of transition and destroyer of demons. Mother Teresa founded here the Kalighat Home for the Dying, which she named Nirmal Hriday (meaning "Pure Heart"). She and her fellow nuns gathered dying Indians off the streets of Calcutta and brought them to this home to care for them during the days before they died. In an interview with Malcolm Muggeridge, in the book Something Beautiful for God, Mother Teresa tells how she for the first time picked up a woman from the street. "The woman was half eaten up by rats and ants. I took her to the hospital, but they could do nothing for her. They only took her because I refused to go home unless something was done for her. After they cared for her, I went straight to the townhall and asked for a place where I could take these people, because that day I found more people dying in the street. The employee of health services brought me to the temple of Kali and showed me the "dormashalah" where the pilgrims used to rest after they worshipped the goddess Kali. The building was empty and he asked me if I wanted it. I was very glad with the offer for many reasons, but especially because it was the center of prayer for Hindus. Within 24 hours we brought our sick and suffering and started the Home for the Dying Destitutes." Ever since then, thousands of men, women and children (more that 42,000) have been taken from the streets of Calcutta and transported to Nirmal Hriday. Approximately 19,000 of those have had the opportunity to die in an environment of kindness and love. In their last hours they met human and Divine Love, and could feel that they also were children of God. For those who didn't die, the Missionaries of Charity tried to find jobs or they were sent to homes where they could live happily some more years in a caring home. Mother's Foundations Mother's Order, founded in 1947, has nearly 4000 nuns running orphanages, homes of poor, AIDS hospices and other charitable centres around the world. In 1948, she opened the first school for slum children in Calcutta. She used to help the poor and taught them about hygiene. In 1952, she opened Nirmal Hriday (or Pure hearts), a home for the dying. On the very first day, Mother Teresa picked up a woman literally half-eaten by rats and ants and carried her to the home and cleaned her. This Home for Dying became more and more popular where the dying who had no place to go were brought and were given proper medical treatment. Another of Mother's foundations was Shishu Bhavan - the home for babies. Children whose parents cannot care them, or whose parents have left them on the streets. Mother Teresa also started a colony for lepers where they could build their own houses and could work on their own fields. The colony was called Shanti Nagar. The biggest problem, according to her, was not the disease but the lack of love and charity, the feeling of being unwanted. Mother considered abortion as the biggest evil. On abortion she said that: "A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God, is in a tremendous poverty." Awards Aplenty For the care she took of destitutes, physically and mentally handicapped, lepers, slum dweller, the world community bestowed on her numerous awards.In 1962, Mother received her first award for humanitarian work - Padmashri award. In the same year, she got the Ramon Magsaysay Award. In 1971 Mother was awarded with Pope John Peace Prize. After being awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 1979, the "living saint" said, "I accept it in the name of the poor because I believe that by giving me this prize, they are recognising the presence of poor in the world." India's highest decoration Bharat Ratna was conferred on her in 1980. The Final Years In 1990, Mother had decided to step down as a head and so called a conclave of sisters to choose a successor. But in a secret ballot, she was reelected with one dissenting vote - her own. And so finally she withdrew the request to step down. In 1996, her health started deteriorating, with failure of her left ventricle, recurring heart problems, chest infection, and so again wished to step down. Finally on March 13, 1997 Mother stepped down and paved the way for election of Sister Nirmala as the new head of the Order. Angel of mercy passes away The 87-year old Nobel laureate died of severe cardiac arrest at the Missionaries of Charity headquarters on September 5, 1997 at 21.30 hours. With the death of "Saint of Gutters", the light has gone out of the lives of the poor and the downtrodden. Mother herself had no personal property or savings. But her real wealth was the millions of destitutes orphaned and abandoned sufferers around the world. In all her work both in India and abroad, she adopted the Indian tradition in service. World's tribute to Mother Teresa Prime Minister of India, IK Gujral, said, "The Mother is a worshipper of daridranarayan (poor). Gandhiji and Mother in this century demonstrated to us the beauty and power of this ultimate and most difficult form of worship." He also said, "The world especially India, is poorer with her passing. Hers was a life devoted to bringing love, peace and joy to the people the world generally shuns." Vice-President of India Krishan Kant said, "With the death of Mother Teresa, a messiah of the poor has left us. The poor will feel poorer. This shock will sprout forth a fountain of love and compassion for the causes she served. She will remain a symbol of dedication and selfless service." The US President Bill Clinton said in his condolence message, "Mother Teresa and Princess Diana - the two different women of vastly different backgrounds and worlds - are gone, but each of them has shown us what it is to live a life of meaning through concern for others." Pope John II said, "She leaves us the testimony of the love of God that ... transformed her life into a total gift to her brothers and sisters." British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid tribute to Mother Teresa calling her a "inspiration to all of us". Nobel Peace laureate Mother Teresa was an outstanding humanitarian, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mr Francis Sejestad, said, "Mother Teresa remained firm in her vision of the world's true needs: humble acts of mercy on God's behalf." Chronology - Mother Teresa Angel of mercy, Mother Teresa, served God among the poorest of poor for 50 years. Many saw the Nobel Prize winner as a "living saint". On her death on September 5, 1997, Prime Minister of India, I K Gujral expressed sorrow over Mother Teresa attaining her place in heaven. He said, "We in India are fortunate that the Mother chose to make Calcutta the base for her world-wide mission of mercy and compassion." Aug 26,1910 Agnes Gonxha Beiaxhiu born, in Skopje in Macedonia, the youngest of three children of an Albanian family. 1928 Leaves home for Dublin, Ireland, to become a Loretto nun. She takes the name sister Teresa 1929 Arrives in Calcutta, India and joins St Mary's High school to teach. May 24, 1937 Takes final vows as a nun in Darjeeling. 1947 Most important journey of her life to Darjeeling where she receives a call from Jesus to serve him among the poorest of poor and to live with them. 1948 Opens first slum school in Calcutta. 1950 Missionaries of Charity established. 1952 Opens Nirmal Hriday, or Pure heart, a home for dying 1962 Receives the Padmashri award for distinguished service - her first award for her humanitarian work. 1971 Pope John Paul VI awards Mother peace prize. 1979 Gets the Nobel Peace Prize. 1980 Awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna. 1983 Has a heart attack while in Rome visiting Pope John Paul II. 1983 Queen Elizabeth II awards Order of Merit in New Delhi. 1985 Gets Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian award. 1986 Narrow escape in an air crash in Tanzania. 1989 Suffers second heart attack; doctors implant pacemaker. 1990 Wants to relinquish charge of Missionaries of Charity on account of poor health. But she is re-elected with only one dissenting vote - her own. 1991 Suffers pneumonia in Mexico, and undergoes heart surgery in the United States. 1993 Breaks three ribs in fall in Rome. 1993 Another surgery in Calcutta to clear a blocked heart vessel. 1996 Fractures her left collar bone and is hospitalised. Aug 22, 1996 Suffers heart failure, admitted to Calcutta`s Woodlands Nursing Home. Sep 16, 1996 Injures head in fall while getting out of bed; doctors detect spot on brain. Nov 16, 1996 Granted honorary American citizenship. Nov 22,1996 Taken to Woodlands Nursing Home with irregular heartbeat. Nov 29, 1996 Undergoes angioplasty surgery to remove two blockages in major coronary arteries. March 13, 1997 Sister Nirmala elected to succeed Mother Teresa as leader of Missionaries of Charity. May 16, 1997 Arrives in Italy for a two-month tour and is given oxygen at Rome airport because of weariness. June 18,1997 Meets Princess Diana for fourth time at Missionaries of Charity residence in New York. Sept 5, 1997 Mother dies following a heart attack at her religious order`s headquarters in Calcutta Mother Teresa had said: "The other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven. And St Peter said, 'Go back to earth. There are no slums up here.'" Quotes of Mother Teresa "The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace." "I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?" "When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she wanted." "I have never seen war before, but I have seen famine and death. I was asking (myself), 'What do they feel when they do this?' I don't understand it. They are all children of God. Why do they do it? I don't understand." "I realized that I had the call to take care of the sick and the dying, the hungry, the naked, the homeless - to be God's Love in action to the poorest of the poor. That was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity." "A nation that destroys the life of an unborn child, who has been created for living and loving, who has been created in the image of God, is in a tremendous poverty." "When He was dying on the Cross, Jesus said, 'I thirst'. Jesus is thirsting for our love, and this is the thirst of everyone, poor or rich alike. We all thirst for the love of others, that they will go out of their way to avoid harming us and to do good to us. This is the meaning of truest love, to give until it hurts."