Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born in Albania in 1910. This is where Miss Koci is from! When she was a girl, Mother Teresa liked to read stories of missionaries who traveled to far off countries. By the age of 12, she had decided to devote her life to religious service, or dedicating her life to her church. When she was 18 years old, Mother Teresa became a nun at a convent in Ireland. Here at the Abbey of the Sisters of Loreto, she learned English so that she could teach in India.

 

Mother Teresa arrived in India in 1929. She lived at a convent in Darjeeling, a city in the north of India and in sight of the Himalayan Mountains. Here she taught at a Catholic school. While she enjoyed life at the convent, she was increasingly disturbed by the poverty that she saw in the nearby city of Calcutta where she occasionally needed to travel.

 

At this time, Calcutta was described by the British as the “city of palaces.” Even thought there were indeed some fine buildings, the sprawling city was was also dreadfully poor. Half a million people lived on the street permanently. Diseases such as leprosy, cholera, and dysentery killed many people. Those in the streets were left to die. No one cared for them, and no hospital would take them in. Whenever she would walk in the streets, people would cry after her asking for money, as they had no food.

 

Mother Teresa said that once on a train ride from Calcutta back to Darjeeling, she felt Jesus acting on her heart.

 

“You must do something.”

“But what?” She thought.

Then she remembered the scripture from Matthew: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind.”

“But I do love you, Lord.” She argued again in her mind.

But then she remembered another verse from Matthew “I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me… I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

 

And so fifteen years after she had arrived in India, Mother Teresa discovered what she called her “calling within a calling.” She decided to dedicate her life to helping the poorest of the poor.

 

She decided to leave her convent in order to live in the poorest part of the city of Calcutta, eat only the simplest food and clothing, and take care of the people who were so sick and poor that nobody else noticed or took care of them. Eventually, a group of women joined her despite the incredibly difficult work. The organization was called the Missionaries of Charity.

 

In 1952, with the help of the Indian government, she opened a hospital and care center in an abandoned Hindu temple. Some of the people in the neighborhood were angry that a Hindu Temple was being used this way and tried to vandalize it. However, when she and the other nuns took kind care of a very sick Hindu monk, they were welcomed into the community.

 

In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress." She also was honored by many dignitaries around the world, including by the president of the United States. When Mother Teresa was asked how to create world peace, she replied, “Go home and love your family.”

 

Mother Teresa died in 1997. She lived a long life of humility and service to others.

 

Mother Theresa decided to give up all of her comfort and all she had been trained to do to help the people that she saw needed help.  Though she sought only to help, not to be recognized, she is considered one of the greatest humanitarians, or people helpers, and kindest people in the 20^th century as she put her time into helping people that no one else had even recognized needed help.