Mother Teresa, an Albanian Roman Catholic Nun who was born on 26th August 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia was a Nobel Prize winner who spent most of her time in India. She was the founder of ‘Missionaries of Charity’ in Kolkata and was the true humanitarian. She founded the Charity in 1950 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1979. The Nobel Prize was the recognition of her great works in the field of love and care to the people all over the world.
Mother Teresa was in fact a great woman of love and affection. She devoted her full life to the care of the poor and to the people who needed attention and caring. She was so much deep thinker that at the age of 12 years she felt the call of God and thus decided to become a missionary in order to spread love and affection among the people of the world. She was so inspired towards the feeling that at the age of 18 years she gave up home and joined the Sisters of Loreto. This Sisters of Loreto being an Irish community of nuns and was trained there and sent to India to serve as nun. Mother Teresa took the vow of nun on 24 May, 1931 and then continued to teach in the St. Mary’s High School in Kolkata till 1948.
But the Poverty and sufferings of the people make her feel the need to do something for them and thus she left the School and started working with the Poor people in the slums for the development and upliftment of the Poor. She was so devoted that she began this work with no support behind and with no finance. She was the single women who was struggling single handedly to bring the prosperity among the poor and help them to fight against the all the diseases like AIDS and leprosy etc. Her thinking and works motivated people and soon she was joined by several volunteers who had the feeling to help the poor and sufferers.
With the growing popularity and the divine thinking to help, she was permitted to open an institution for the people who were given up by the society and were never considered worth paying any kind of attention. The ‘Missionaries of Charity’ was in fact started with around 12 members with the view to care orphanages, AIDS Suffers, victims of Tuberculosis and such people who are kicked out by the mainstream society. Today this institution named as ‘Missionaries of Charity’ has around 4500 nuns and operating in more than 133 countries all over the world.
Mother Teresa devoted around 40 years for the service of the poor and continued her services to the society till her death. Her works so emphatic that she was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1979 and also received India’s highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1980. She was also a recipient of Pope John XXIII Peace Prize and the Nehru Prize in 1971 which was being given in recognition to her efforts to the promotion of peace and understanding on the international level.
She once told ‘By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus’. She was the perfect soul and was always the advocate of the poor and her works for the poor can be judged by the devotion with which she helped the poor. She was the founder of several other organizations namely ‘Missionaries of Charity Brothers’ in 1963, the contemplative branch of sisters in 1976, the contemplative branch of brothers in 1979 and the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 1984. She later on in her life laid the foundation of many such organizations meant for the benefits of several classes and for the sake of charity and help to the sections of the society.
Her works in fact lit a flame of love and devotion in the world and inspired people to devote themselves towards the love and care of the society. Clad in White Saree having blue border, she became a symbol of love and hope to many people belonging to various sections like old, Unemployed, diseased and those discarded by their families. She was so devoted towards the society that even during her last times, when her health was decreasing rapidly and her body was not responding well enough, she continued her services to the people and responded to the society’s needs and attention.
She died on 5 September, 1997. But before her death, she taught this world the significance of love and affection and showed that with love and care, much can be improved in the society. She died at the age of 87, millions of people gathered on streets to pay tribute to her. Several watched her funeral process on television. Her body was kept in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata for last glimpse of her.
There were some of the controversies attached with the image of Mother Teresa but in true sense these controversies always arises when a person become famous through works. Many claimed that her prime motive to the help of the poor was just to influence people to turn Christians while others claim she loved her celebrity status and she never was in motive to remove the poverty but only cared to ease the poverty. These are the thoughts of some people but on world stage she was an image of love and affection and is still the symbol of care and divine love. She in true sense was ‘blessed’ which was the title awarded by Pope in 2003.
Her legacy of love, care and respect towards all the people irrespective of the caste, color and religion will always continue and we all must focus on continuing this legacy for long years to come. Today, 26 August we celebrates Her birthday by donating money to a charity. A big salute from our team members of WIW, let's make Her wishes come true.
