Remembering Mother Teresa on Her 110th Birth Anniversary

By Ayushi Sharma

Let us get to know a little about Mother Teresa on her 110th Birth Anniversary.

Who was Mother Teresa?

Mother Teresa was a nun. She was known as the Saint Teresa of Calcutta in the Catholic church. She devoted her life to caring for the poor and sick. She was born on the 26th of August 1910 in Macedonia.

In 1979 she received a Nobel Prize for her work. She was known to be a woman who devoted her heart and soul to taking care of poor and sick people.

She died in September of 1997.

Education

She attended a convent school followed by a state-run secondary school. At the age of 18 years, Teresa decided to be a nun. She decided to leave for Ireland and become a part of the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin. It was then that she decided to be known as Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

After a year, Sister Teresa came to Darjeeling, India, for the novitiate period. In the month of May 1931, she took her First Profession of Vows. After, she was sent to Calcutta. She was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for Girls, a school by Loreto Sisters. The school was dedicated to teaching girls from poor Bengali families. Mother Teresa learned to speak both Bengali and Hindi fluently. She taught geography and history and was focused to alleviating the girls' poverty through education.

Mother Teresa's Awards

In February 1965, Pope Paul VI conferred the Decree of Praise on the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted Mother Teresa to begin working internationally. Mother Teresa received various honors for her effective charity. She was awarded the Jewel of India, as well as now-defunct Soviet Union's Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work "in bringing help to suffering humanity."

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Legacy

Since her demise, Mother Teresa has remained in the spotlight. For her commitment to helping those most in need. She stands out as one of the greatest humanitarians.

Despite her enormous charitable activities and the millions of lives she helped, she held only the most humble achievements. Summing up her life in simple words, Mother Teresa said, "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."