Missionary of Charity (MOTHER TERESA)

When she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 Mother Teresa asked for the funds for the traditional Nobel honour banquet to be donated to the poor of India. She heard the calling to her vocation very early.

From the 1940s till the 1990s, Mother Teresa was a familiar and beloved figure, especially in Calcutta (now Kolkata). She was known by her blue-bordered white sari, one end pulled over her forehead as she bent over those she cared for. She is revered for her humanitarian work.

She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1911 in Macedonia, East Europe. Her parents, who were Albanian, were pious Catholics, believing in kindness to all. Her father, Nikola Bojaxhiu, worked in construction and also traded in various goods. When she was eight, he died suddenly.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has (not yet come. We have only today Let us begin.)

Her mother, Dranafile, often invited the poor and the destitute to share a meal with them, and when Agnes asked whether their guests were relatives, her mother said that they were their all 'our people'

As a young girl, Agnes sang in a church choir, and sang so soulfully that she was often asked to sing solo. At the age of twelve, she went with her church congregation on a pilgrimage to Letnice in Kosovo (eastern Europe) to the Church of the Black Madonna. It was here that she heard her inner voice telling her to follow a life dedicated to God.

In 1928, when Agnes was eighteen, she left her home for Dublin, Ireland, to join the Sisters of Loreto, a group of missionary nuns. Two years later, as Sister Mary Teresa, sheets for Darjeeling in India to begin her training

Till 1946, she taught at Kolkata's Saint Ann School for Girls before she decided to dedicate her life to the poor and the distressed with little support, she often went hungry herself, In 1950, she formed a group within the Catholic Church called the Missionaries of Charity to take care of the people who were unwanted can for and shame. The homes and hospitals she set up Kolkata and across India continue to the refuge to them