On September 10, , on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the "call within a call," which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family of Sisters, Brothers, Fathers, and Co-Workers. That call was an inspiration that revealed the mission she would give to her new institute: "to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love and souls," by "labouring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor.
Throughout the s and early s, Mother Teresa expanded the work of the Missionaries of Charity within Calcutta and throughout India.
That year, the Society expanded its mission outside India to Cocorote, Venezuela, and, three years later, to Europe and Africa. By , there were Missionaries of Charity foundations around the world. In the s they spread to almost all of the communist countries.
Mother Teresa was canonized as a saint on September 4, , a day before the 19th anniversary of her death. Pope Francis led the canonization mass, which was held in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime of poverty they created.
He also told the faithful to follow her example and practice compassion. Since her death, Mother Teresa has remained in the public spotlight. For her unwavering commitment to aiding those most in need, Mother Teresa stands out as one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century.
She combined profound empathy and a fervent commitment to her cause with incredible organizational and managerial skills that allowed her to develop a vast and effective international organization of missionaries to help impoverished citizens all across the globe. Despite the enormous scale of her charitable activities and the millions of lives she touched, to her dying day, she held only the most humble conception of her own achievements.
Summing up her life in characteristically self-effacing fashion, 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. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
She was canonized in Mother Jones was a union activist. God to drink of their love. The Missionary of Charity. She envisioned a congregation of women and received her first companion in March The religious branches include the Sisters , followed by the Brothers on 25 March , then the Contemplative Sisters on 25 June , the Contemplative Brothers on 19 March , and the Fathers on 31 October As a religious family the active and contemplative Sisters comprise one congregation, while the Brothers and Fathers are three separate congregations.
For the laity, Mother Teresa established the co-workers on 29 March, and the Sick and Suffering co-workers on 13 January Although Mother Teresa had been trying to cut back on her duties for some time because of her health problems , she stayed on in an advisory role to Sister Nirmala. The movie aired in the fall of on "The Family Channel" even though, after viewing the movie, Mother Teresa refused to endorse it. Mother Teresa celebrated her 87th birthday in August, and died shortly thereafter of a heart attack on September 5, The world grieved her loss and one mourner noted, "It was Mother herself who poor people respected.
When they bury her, we will have lost something that cannot be replaced. In appearance Mother Teresa was both tiny only about five feet tall and energetic.
Her face was quite wrinkled, but her dark eyes commanded attention, radiating an energy and intelligence that shone without expressing nervousness or impatience. Many of her recruits came from people attracted by her own aura of sanctity, and she seemed little changed by the worldwide attention she received.
Conservatives within the Catholic Church sometimes used her as a symbol of traditional religious values that they felt lacking in their churches. By popular consensus she was a saint for the times, and a spate of almost adoring books and articles started to canonize her in the s and well into the s.
She herself tried to deflect all attention away from what she did to either the works of her group or to the god who was her inspiration.
She continued to combine energetic administrative activities with a demanding life of prayer, and if she accepted opportunities to publicize her work they had little of the cult of personality about them. In the wake of the Nobel Prize for Peace she received many other international honors, but she sometimes disconcerted humanitarian groups by expressing her horror at abortion or her own preference for prayer rather than politics.
When asked what would happen to her group and work after her death, she told people that God would surely provide a successor—a person humbler and more faithful than she.
The Missionaries of Charity, who had brothers as well as sisters by the mids, are guided by the constitution she wrote for them.
They have their vivid memories of the love for the poor that created the phenomenon of Mother Teresa in the first place. So the final part of her story will be the lasting impact her memory has on the next generations of missionaries, as well as in the world as a whole.
The books contained reflections, meditations, and prayers that provided a good basis for judging Mother Teresa's spirituality.
Of the constantly growing number of biographies and studies, Malcolm Muggeridge's Something Beautiful for God deserved special mention, because it was one of the first and best publicized treatments. Muggeridge made no effort to conceal his admiration. See also Maclean's March 24, and People June 30,
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