Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Saint Teresa (http://www.catholic.org/clife/teresa/)

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was a small woman with a big heart that loved to share the love of God with others. She was born on the 26 of August, 1910 in Skopje, which is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. Her father was a respected businessman who died when she was eight years old, leaving her religious mother to care for her.

Agnes's childhood was full of church activities and helping her mother with chores. At the age of eighteen she left her home to become a nun. Her new name was Teresa. She was sent back to Calcutta on January 6th, 1929. She then joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling. She decided then to go into total nun-hood and changed her named to Mother Teresa.

On day, during a train ride from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received a special calling to create the Missionaries of Charity family of Sisters, Brothers, Fathers, and Co-Workers. And on October 7, 1950, the Missionaries of Charity was officially made a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta. Mother Teresa worked here through the 1950's to the early 1960's. In that time she expanded the work of the Missionaries of Charity not only throughout Calcutta, but also through India.

On February 1, 1965, Pope John Paul VI gave the Decree of Praise to the mission, making it more popular throughout the world. The very first foundation outside the country India opened in Cocorote, Venezula, in 1965. The Society then expanded to Europe and Africa in 1968. The Missionaries of Charity expanded their reach throughout the globe, reaching out to others. Their numbers began to become very huge. They reached the Communist countries in 1979 and continued to spread their wings even further, but, even with all their efforts, they were not able to open one in China.

Mother Teresa helped people whenever she could, no matter how ill she was. She died in Calcutta in the Motherhouse at 9:50 PM, on September 5, 1997. Her body was transported to St. Tomas's Church. Thousands of people came from from all religions and all parts of the world to watch her funeral procession. Saint Teresa was beatified in 1999 by Pope John Paul II. In 2002, they were still looking for a miracle so they could call her a saint. A woman came to them and told them what had happened to her. She had a tumor and was praying for it to go away. She looked at a picture of Mother Teresa and a bright light shot from the picture, healing her tumor. Doctors even said the tumor was no longer there. After this event, Mother Teresa was made a saint. We will always remember Saint Teresa of Calcutta.