Famous People in History, Great Personalities in World History, Famous Person Information, Photos: Mother Teresa (27 August 1910

Mother Teresa was born August 27, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu from Albanian parents, Nikolle and Drandafille Bojaxhiu.

Her father was a successful and well known contractor, her mother was a housewife. She was the youngest of three children. Mother Teresa's family was a devoted catholic family. They prayed every evening and went to church almost every day. It was her family's generosity, care for the poor and the less fortunate that made a great impact on young Mother Teresa's life.

Mother Teressa Photo

By the age of 12, she had made up her mind; she realized that her vocation was aiding the poor. At age 18, she then decided to become a nun, and traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to join the Sisters of Loretto. After about a year in Ireland, she then leaves to join the Loretto convent in the northeast Indian city of Darjeeling, where she spends 17 years teaching and being principal of St. Mary’s high school in Calcutta.

In 1946 Mother Teresa’s life is changed forever. While riding a train to the mountain town of Darjeeling to recover from suspected tuberculosis, on the 10th of September, she said that she received a calling from God to serve among the poorest of the poor. ” Less than a year later she gets permission from the Catholic Church to leave her order and move to Calcutta’s slums to set up her first school.

Sister Agnes” who was a former student, becomes Mother Teresa’s first follower. Others soon follow, and papal approval arrives to create a religious order of nuns called the Missionaries of Charity. The foundation is celebrated on Oct. 7 1950, the feast of the Holy Rosary.

To identify herself with the poor she chooses to wear plain white sari with a blue border and a simple cross pinned to her left shoulder. Their mission is as she would say when she accepted the Nobel peace prize to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.

With the help of Calcutta officials she converts a portion of the abandoned temple to Kali, the Hindu goddess of death and destruction into Kalighat Home for the Dying, where even the poorest people would die with dignity. Soon after she opens up Nirmal Hriday ( “ Pure Heart " ), a home for the dying, and Shanti Nagar Town of Peace ), a leper colony and later her first orphanage.

Mother Teresa and the sisters continued opening houses all over India caring for the poor, washing their wounds, soothing their sores, making them feel wanted. But her order’s work spread across the world after 1965, when Pope Paul VI granted Mother Teresa’s request to globally expand her order.

Whether it was in Ethiopia feeding the hungry, the ghettos of South Africa or it was her native country Albania when the communist regime collapsed, Calcutta’s Mother Teresa "the living saint” was there.

In 1982, at the height of the siege in Beirut she convinced the parties to stop the war so she could rescue 37 sick children trapped inside. Mother Teresa became a symbol of untiring commitment to the poor and suffering. She was probably the most admired women of all time, receiving so many rewards and prices for her outstanding work and she used her reputation traveling all over the world raising money and support for her causes.

In 1962, she received the Pandma Shri prize for "extraordinary services." In 1971, Pope Paul VI honors Mother Teresa by awarding her the first Pope John XXXIII Peace Prize. In 1972, the Government of India presents her with the Jawaharlel Nehru Award for International Understanding. In 1979, She wins the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1985, President Reagan presents her the Medal of Freedom, the highest U. S. civilian award. In 1996, she becomes only the fourth person the world to receive an honorary U. S. citizenship. When she received trademark, her cancel a dir insto Today Mother Tere be received the Nobel Prize she wore the same k her $ 1 sari and convinced the committee La dinner in her honor, using the money ead to " feed 400 poor children for a year in India. "

Today Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity now has 570 missions all over the world, comprising of 4000 runs a brotherhood of 300 members and over 100000 volunteers operating homes for AIDS, leprosy tuberculosis patients ; soup kitchens, children’s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools.

Mother Teresa’s health was deteriorating, part from her age, part from the conditions where she was living, and part of it was from her trips all over the world, opening new houses and raising money for the poor.

In 1985, she suffered from a heart attack while in Rome visiting Pope John Paul II. In 1989, she suffered another almost fatal heart attack and had a pacemaker implanted. In 1991, she suffers pneumonia Tijuana, Mexico which leads to heart failure. In 1996, Mother Teresa suffers malaria, chest infection and undergoes heart surgery. On March 13th 1997, Sister Nirmala is selected as Mother Teresa’s successor. Finally on September 5th 1997, the world learns that Mother Teresa “Angel of Mercy “had died the age of 87.

We all have our own heroes, people we admire and respect, people who made an impact on our life, which made us, look at the world with a different eye; Mother Teresa is definitely the one for me.

Although the world is full of good people, great humanitarians that really care, people who donate billions of dollars, people who raise their voice to make a difference, Mother Teresa stands out in the crowd, she is unique.

She dedicated every day of her adult life caring for “The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved “and she loved every minute of it because she was loving, she was cleaning, feeding " Jesus in disguise. "

Agreeing or disagreeing with her on abortion, population control, divorce, or how she raised the money should not shadow Mother Teresa’s life - long contribution and dedicate on to the poor and humanity.

The funeral was held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium which holds 15, 000 seats. At the insistence of the Missionaries of Charity, about half of those seats were reserved for those unfortunate people she served during her life. The State Funeral services usually reserved for heads of states were led by cardinal A. Sodano, the Vatican’s secretary of state and the Pope’s representative.

Photo Gallery of Mother Teressa