Born in 1910 in Ottoman Macedonia, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950 to help the poorest of the poor. A global icon of compassion, she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was canonized in 2016.
Mother Teresa(1910 — 1997)
Mother Teresa
Empire ottoman, Inde
9 min read
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.»
« If you judge people, you have no time to love them.»
« Peace begins with a smile.»
Key Facts
- Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 in Skopje (Ottoman Empire, present-day North Macedonia)
- Entered religious life in 1928 and went to teach in India, acquiring Indian citizenship in 1948
- Founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950; the congregation today counts more than 5,000 sisters worldwide
- Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work among the most destitute
- Beatified in 2003 by John Paul II, then canonized on 4 September 2016 by Pope Francis
Works & Achievements
Catholic religious congregation dedicated to serving 'the poorest of the poor', recognized by Rome on October 7, 1950. Present in more than 130 countries at her death, it now counts over 5,000 sisters.
First free shelter for abandoned dying people in Calcutta, allowing thousands of people to end their lives in dignity, cared for and spiritually accompanied.
Orphanage and reception center for abandoned, malnourished and disabled children founded in Calcutta. This model would be replicated in dozens of countries.
Collection of intimate letters by Mother Teresa published after her death, revealing her profound doubts and her 'dark night of the soul'. An exceptional document for understanding the spiritual life and inner fragility of a figure considered a saint.
International recognition crowning thirty years of work among the destitute of Calcutta. In her speech, she advocates for the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death.
Compilation of texts, speeches and meditations by Mother Teresa on love, poverty and vocation. A reference work for understanding her spirituality and her vision of humanitarian commitment.
Anecdotes
In 1946, while traveling by train to Darjeeling for a spiritual retreat, Mother Teresa recounted receiving what she called 'the call within the call': an inner voice asking her to leave her convent and live among the poorest of the poor. She described this experience as a divine command she could not resist.
In 1952, Mother Teresa found a dying woman being devoured by rats and ants on a Calcutta sidewalk. Turned away by several hospitals, she carried the woman herself until one institution agreed to admit her. This event convinced her to establish Nirmal Hriday, a home for the dying, which opened that same year.
At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 1979, Mother Teresa declined the traditional banquet held in her honor and asked that the 192,000 Norwegian kroner set aside for the dinner be redirected to the poor of Calcutta. She also donated the entirety of the prize money to fund her charitable works.
Mother Teresa had a reputation as a formidable negotiator. In 1982, during the siege of Beirut, she secured a temporary ceasefire between the Israeli army and Palestinian forces to evacuate 37 mentally disabled children trapped in a hospital in a combat zone. Soldiers on both sides stopped firing while she completed her mission.
Her personal letters, published posthumously in the book 'Come Be My Light' (2007), revealed that she had endured nearly 50 years of 'dark night of the soul', feeling inwardly abandoned by God while continuing her work. This revelation profoundly shook the image the world had of her and sparked an immense theological debate.
Primary Sources
I want to be free for God alone. I want to love Him with all that I am. Allow me to go into the streets to serve the poorest of the poor.
I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing by the mother herself. And we read in the Scriptures... if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for us to kill each other?
In my soul, I feel just this terrible pain of absence — God does not want me — God is not God — God does not exist.
Woman is the strength of the family. If we destroy woman, we destroy the family. And if we destroy the family, we destroy the world.
Our aim is to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus Christ on the cross for souls, by working for the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor.
Key Places
Birthplace of Anjezë Bojaxhiu, where she grew up in a deeply devout Albanian Catholic family. It was here that her vocation was born during youth outings in the poor outskirts of the city.
The first home for the dying founded by Mother Teresa in 1952, established in a former dharamsala adjoining the Kali temple. Thousands of people would die there with dignity, cared for and accompanied.
Global headquarters of the congregation founded in 1950, on A.J.C. Bose Road. It is here that Mother Teresa lived, prayed, and led her work, and where her body rests today, drawing pilgrims from around the world.
Venue for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December 1979. Mother Teresa delivered a memorable speech there and refused the honorary banquet, demanding that the funds be redistributed to the poor of Calcutta.
In 1982, during the civil war, Mother Teresa negotiated a temporary ceasefire to evacuate disabled children trapped between the front lines. This episode illustrates her boldness and her international political influence.
Typical Objects
Adopted in 1948 as the habit of her congregation, the white sari with three blue stripes became the global emblem of the Missionaries of Charity. The colors were inspired by the traditional sari worn by poor women in Bengal whom Mother Teresa worked alongside.
Mother Teresa permanently wore a rosary in her hand or on her wrist and recited it daily. She considered prayer, particularly the Marian rosary, to be the primary weapon of her apostolate among the most destitute.
The Missionaries of Charity use a simple enameled metal bowl to distribute food to the dying and the destitute at Nirmal Hriday. This object embodies the total detachment that Mother Teresa demanded of her sisters.
Mother Teresa wore rudimentary leather sandals similar to those of poor Indian women, a symbol of her vow of poverty and her desire to share the daily life of the most destitute.
She always wore a small medal of the Virgin pinned to her sari, to which she had been deeply attached since her Albanian childhood. This Marian devotion directly influenced the choice of blue for her congregation's habit.
Basic care instruments — cloths, bandages, clean water — were the daily tools of Mother Teresa and her sisters as they tended to the dying, lepers, and sick abandoned on the streets of Calcutta.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Tags
Daily Life
Morning
Mother Teresa and her sisters rose at 4:40 a.m. for morning prayer and the 5:30 Mass. After the service, they ate a frugal meal — rice, dal, and vegetables — before heading into the streets of Calcutta from 8 a.m. onward to seek out the sick and dying who had been abandoned.
Afternoon
Afternoons were devoted to care at Nirmal Hriday or Shishu Bhavan: washing the sick, changing the dressings of leprosy patients, feeding children, and sitting with the dying. Mother Teresa supervised the work, trained novices, and received visitors.
Evening
Evenings brought the community together for the rosary and vespers. Mother Teresa also devoted time to her voluminous correspondence with donors, bishops, and government officials, before lights out at 10 p.m.
Food
The diet of the Missionaries of Charity was deliberately simple: rice, lentils, plain vegetables, bread. Mother Teresa ate the same food as her sisters and refused any preferential treatment. She fasted on Fridays in solidarity with the poor, who often went without enough to eat.
Clothing
Mother Teresa wore at all times the white sari with three blue borders she had adopted in 1948, along with simple leather sandals. She owned exactly two saris — one to wear, one to wash — in keeping with her congregation's strict vow of poverty.
Housing
She lived in the Missionaries of Charity motherhouse in Calcutta, in a spartan cell: a wooden bed, a small cross on the wall, a crucifix. The congregation has no air conditioning or heating, living in the same conditions as the poor it serves.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Visual Style
Esthétique photographique documentaire en noir et blanc contrasté, inspirée de Calcutta des années 1950-70 : sari blanc bordé de bleu, rues étroites des bidonvilles, lumière crue et portraits humanistes de la grande tradition photographique.
Sound Ambience
Ambiance sonore mêlant les bruits de rue de Calcutta et l'atmosphère recueillie d'une maison de soins catholique : prières en communauté, gestes d'infirmerie et rumeur de la ville pauvre des années 1950.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Fondation des Missionnaires de la Charité
1950
Nirmal Hriday — Maison des mourants
1952
Shishu Bhavan — Maison pour enfants
1955
Come Be My Light (lettres spirituelles posthumes)
2007
Prix Nobel de la Paix
1979
No Greater Love (recueil de pensées et discours)
1997
Rechercher
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