Teresa dedicated her life to helping the poor
YOU might not be familiar with the name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, but you will be familiar with her other one – Mother Teresa.
On January 6, 1929, the Catholic nun arrived in the Indian city of Calcutta to work in a convent school.
Raised by her mother and as part of a cultural and religious minority in Macedonia, she watched as her struggling parent took unfortunate individuals into her home.
With a strong desire to help the
The terrible suffering outside the covent gripped Teresa
poor, Agnes decided at a young age she had a calling to serve God, and eventually joined the Irish Order of Loreto Sisters.
After studying for a while in Dublin, where she learned English, she took the name Teresa, after Therese of Lisieux.
She then moved to India to teach girls.
The order was progressive and dedicated to educating women at a time and in a place where such things were not valued.
But it was the terrible suffering outside the walls of the convent that gripped Teresa.
She later described how, in 1946, she heard the voice of God, telling her to found an order to assist the dying and the penniless.
With no money, it was a struggle, but with the help of a local Catholic businessman, she founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity.
The nuns of the order wore a white, Indian-style sari with a blue headband different habits from traditional Catholic nuns.
Other orders criticised the break from traditional clothing but the move by Teresa was immediately rewarded.
Poor people responded to the practical, local-style robe and, for the next 10 years, her order spread throughout India.
It eventually also spread to Italy, Australia, Warsaw, Japan, Germany and beyond.
A BBC film about Mother Teresa and her work, Something Beautiful For God, made her a global figure, loved by millions.
The man who made the film, Malcolm Muggeridge, was so affected he converted to Catholicism.
However, she was also an outspoken figure.
Critics pointed to India’s overpopulation problem as causing much of the poverty she battled, but still she stuck to her guns on matters such as abortion and contraception.
But she was seen as politically neutral and even went on to win over Communist leaders in Cuba and the Soviet Union. She was even invited to the Soviet Union to carry out charitable work – something which was previously banned.
Shrewdness was also part of her character.
In 1964, Pope Paul VI gave her a luxury limousine.
She was expected to sell the expensive car but went one better and raffled it, raising much more money than expected.
Mother Teresa died in 1997, and, thanks to a lifetime of charitable work, was sainted last year by Pope Francis.