Life History of Mother Teresa ( அன்னை தெரசா )

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa (August 26, 1910 - September 5, 1997) was a great personality, who did a lot to improvise the social condition of our country. Born on the 27th of August in the year 1910, she was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She belonged to a family of Albanian descent. She was the founder of missionaries of charity. She was actively involved in social work.

Due to her immense contribution in serving the society; she was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize. Well, in this article, we will provide you with the biography of Mother Teresa, which will enable you to explore the life history of Mother Teresa. The story of mother Teresa is very inspiring. Check out the facts about Mother Teresa…

Early Life 
She was born and brought up in a Catholic family. When she was only seven, she lost her father. Even as a young child, she was fascinated by the life of missionaries. At the age of 18, she decided that she would become a nun. She left her house and went to join the sisters of Loreto. This was the first step that she made towards providing services to mankind.

Missionaries of Charity
On the 7th of October in the year 1950, Mother Teresa got the Vatican permission to start the missionary of charity in Calcutta, the mission of which would be to take care of the poor, needy, crippled, homeless, and people who are shunned by the society. The missionary has got a number of branches all over the country. The journey of Mother Teresa's missionaries of charity started with the setting up of home for 'the Dying' in space. More…

Deteriorating health
In the year 1983, Mother Teresa suffered from a severe heart attack, while she was in Rome. However she recovered. But, later in 1989, she again got an attack. Her health kept deteriorating and in the year 1991, she suffered from Pneumonia. Taking into consideration her health problem, Mother Teresa decided to resign from the post of head of the order.

A secret ballot was conducted in which all the nuns, except for Mother Teresa, voted for the stay of Mother Teresa. So, she agreed to continue serving as the head of the missionaries of charity. Day by day her health was getting worse. On the 13th of March in the year 1997, she left the post of head of the order. On the September 5, 1997, exactly nine days before her 87th birthday, this great soul departed for heaven.

Mother Teresa Award 
The Mother Teresa award contains a very accurately designed figure resembling a devotional statue. Seeking the help of One Moment Productions (specialized in the task of custom castings), R.S. Owens created the Mother Teresa statuette. It portrays Mother Teresa as holding rosary in her one hand and the other hand is placed on her heart. Her head is depicted as raised high towards the heaven, which conveys the message that, whatever we choose to do or perform, should be for the glory of God. More…

Missionary of Charity

On the 7th of October in the year 1950, Mother Teresa got the Vatican permission to start the missionary of charity in Calcutta, the mission of which would be to take care of the poor, needy, crippled, homeless, and people who are shunned by the society. The missionary has got a number of branches all over the country. The journey of Mother Teresa's missionaries of charity started with the setting up of home for 'the Dying' in space.

Mother Teresa Missionary of Charity started at a small level with 13 members. However, things have changed now. Today, the missionary has a wide network containing thousands of nuns that are running charity centers, orphanages and AIDS hospices etc. The missionaries run schools to provide education to the street children. For them, the facility of soup kitchen is also available that offers food at subsidized rates.

The missionary of charity in Calcutta runs nine homes like homes for women, the dying, orphans and many more. It has also established a colony for the lepers. In the year 1990, Mother Teresa was asked to resign from the post of head of the missionaries. But, in a short span of time, she was voted back as the Superior General of the missionaries. Later, on the 13th of March in the year 1997, as in six months before the death of Mother Teresa, Sister Mary Nirmala Joshi was appointed as the new Superior General.

Mother Teresa Award

For many years, the St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art conducted an award program to acknowledge the efforts of people, who have made an incredible contribution in serving the society and carrying out altruistic works. An attempt was made to look for universities that are willing to confer honorary doctorates upon the individuals, who deserve recognition. However, the universities did not show much of interest.

Then later on, the universities thought of using a known name for the awards program. So, they contacted mother Nirmala, who held the position of head of missionaries of charity after the death of Mother Teresa. They asked her if they could use the name of Mother Teresa for the awards. Usually, the nuns do not give permission to make use of the Mother's name. However, based on faith that Mother's name would be used for a good cause, they allowed the university to use it. This paved way for the announcement of the Mother Teresa awards.

The Mother Teresa award contains a very accurately designed figure resembling a devotional statue. Seeking the help of One Moment Productions (specialized in the task of custom castings), R.S. Owens created the Mother Teresa statuette. It portrays Mother Teresa as holding rosary in her one hand and the other hand is placed on her heart. Her head is depicted as raised high towards the heaven, which is suggestive of the message that, whatever we choose to do or perform, should be for the glory of God.

Mother Teresa Quotes

Every year, on the occasion of Mother Teresa's birthday, the newspapers and magazines get filled with Mother Teresa quotations. There are many websites that contain comprehensive writings on Mother Teresa. Below are presented some famous quotes by Mother Teresa, so check out:

Mother Teresa Quotes

• The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between.
• It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.
• Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action.
• I think I'm more difficult than critical.
• We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
• Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
• I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
• Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.
• The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.
• Jesus said love one another. He didn't say love the whole world.
• Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.
• It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.
• Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.
• Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.
• Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary.
• What we need is to love without getting tired.
• Good works are links that form a chain of love.
• Intense love does not measure, it just gives.
• Love begins by taking care of the closest ones - the ones at home.
• Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.
• Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
• The miracle is not that we do this work, but that we are happy to do it.
• One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.
• We are all pencils in the hand of God.
• I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.
• Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
• It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may
• live as you wish.
• Our life of poverty is as necessary as the work itself. Only in heaven
• will we see how much we owe to the poor for helping us to love
• God better because of them.
• We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless.
• The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest
• Poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.