Mother Teresa: Faith, Service, and Sainthood

Mother Teresa was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire. She was raised in a devout Catholic family, and by the time she was twelve, she felt called to a life of religious service. At age eighteen, she left home for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto and learn English, the language she’d later use in India.

Mother Teresa’s Catholic faith shaped every aspect of her approach to suffering and care for the poor. She believed that every person, no matter how destitute or ill, bore the image of Christ. This conviction drove her to spend hours each day in prayer and meditation, seeking the strength to serve those who suffered. For her, prayer wasn’t just a private act; it was the foundation for her action. She once said, “Prayer is the mortar that holds our house together.” Her daily spiritual routine included early morning Mass, meditation, and reciting the rosary, all intended to root her service in the love of God.

In 1950, in Kolkata, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity. The order’s mission was to care for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society.” The sisters adopted a simple white sari with blue stripes as their habit, symbolizing humility and solidarity with the poor. By 1996, the Missionaries of Charity operated 517 missions in over 100 countries, running hospices, orphanages, and clinics for those the world had forgotten. Each member took a fourth vow, unique among Catholic orders: to offer “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” This vow reflected Mother Teresa’s belief that love had to be expressed through practical, sacrificial care.

Mother Teresa’s humanitarian work brought global recognition. In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize. She accepted the award not for herself, but on behalf of “the unwanted, unloved, uncared for.” She also received India’s highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980. Her influence reached far beyond India. During the 1982 Siege of Beirut, she brokered a temporary ceasefire and personally led the rescue of 37 children trapped in a hospital. She visited disaster zones in Armenia after the 1988 earthquake and Chernobyl after the nuclear accident, showing her commitment to serve wherever suffering was greatest. Mother Teresa died in Kolkata on September 5, 1997. By then, the Missionaries of Charity had thousands of members serving in more than 100 countries.

Despite the acclaim, Mother Teresa’s methods attracted criticism. Some former volunteers and observers accused her homes of offering inadequate medical care and maintaining harsh conditions, arguing that her emphasis on suffering did not always translate to providing comfort or relief. She also faced controversy for her vocal opposition to abortion, a stance rooted in her Catholic beliefs but debated in many countries where she worked. Another source of criticism came when she defended a priest accused of molestation, which led to public outcry and further scrutiny of her judgment.

After her death, the Catholic Church began the process of declaring her a saint. She was beatified in 2003, following the Vatican’s recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession. On September 4, 2016, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, marking her as one of the most recognized Catholic saints of the modern era.