Mother Teresa was born as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia), into an Albanian family.
Her father died when she was just 8 years old, and her mother raised her with deep faith and compassion for the poor.
From a young age, Gonxhe (meaning “rosebud”) felt a calling toward a life of service. At 18, she left her family and homeland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland. There, she took the name Teresa, inspired by Thérèse of Lisieux, the “Little Flower of Jesus.”
The ‘Call Within a Call’
In 1929, she arrived in India and began teaching at St. Mary’s High School for Girls in Calcutta. For nearly two decades, she lived a relatively quiet life as a teacher and principal.
However, in 1946, during a train ride to Darjeeling for a retreat, she experienced what she later described as a “call within a call.”
She felt God was calling her to leave the convent and live among the poorest of the poor, to serve the destitute not with pity but with love.
“I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him in the poorest of the poor.”
This was a turning point. With special permission from the Vatican, she left the Loreto order, donned a simple white sari with a blue border, and stepped into the streets of Calcutta.
Love in Action
She began her mission alone, teaching slum children under a tree, using dirt as a chalkboard. Soon, she was joined by former students and helpers.
In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, with a simple yet radical mission:
“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.”
One of her most moving efforts was the establishment of Nirmal Hriday (The Pure Heart), a hospice for the dying. There, she picked up the dying from the streets, cleaned their wounds, and gave them a place to die with dignity.
Stories abound of her tenderness.
“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
Global Reach
Mother Teresa’s work spread rapidly. By the 1980s, her order had opened homes in over 100 countries. She became a global symbol of compassion and humility, yet she always remained grounded in simplicity.
In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She declined the formal banquet and asked the funds be given to the poor. When asked how to promote world peace, she replied simply:
“Go home and love your family.”
Her Hidden Struggle
After her death, letters published in Come Be My Light revealed a profound spiritual darkness she had experienced for nearly 50 years. She wrote of feeling abandoned by God, even as she continued her mission.
This darkness only magnified her strength. She kept serving not out of consolation, but from sheer will and belief in love.
“If I ever become a saint,” she wrote, “I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from heaven—to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”
Legacy
Mother Teresa passed away on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87. She was mourned across the world, especially by those whose lives she had touched.
In 2016, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis. Today, the Missionaries of Charity continue her work across continents.
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
A Beacon of Selfless Love
Mother Teresa’s life was a symphony of compassion, echoing through the lives she touched. She turned the forgotten into family, the dying into the beloved, and the streets into sanctuaries of peace.
Her legacy reminds us that greatness lies not in grand gestures, but in quiet acts of love.
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
Mother Teresa’s Acceptance Speech
“Let us all together thank God for this beautiful occasion where we can all together proclaim the joy of spreading peace, the joy of loving one another and the joy acknowledging that the poorest of the poor are our brothers and sisters.
As we have gathered here to thank God for this gift of peace, I have given you all the prayer for peace that St Francis of Assisi prayed many years ago, and I wonder he must have felt the need what we feel today to pray for. I think you have all got that paper? We’ll say it together.
Lord, make me a channel of your peace,
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather
to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand than to be understood;
to love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self, that one finds;
it is by forgiving that one is forgiven;
it is by dying, that one awakens to eternal life.
Amen.“
You may read or watch the complete speech on nobelprize.org.