Once Mother Teresa was asked about the biggest honor ever bestowed upon her. Everybody expected her answer to be the Noble Prize, but she replied that the title of 'Mother' was the biggest honor she had ever received. So true! Mother Teresa of Calcutta was born in Albania as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. At the age of 18, Agnes attended the religious order called 'Our Lady of Loreto' in Ireland. In 1931, she took the name of Teresa from the French nun Therese Martin, who was canonized in 1927 with the title St. Therese of Lisieux. In 1937, Mother Teresa took her vows. She taught for 20 years in Saint Mary's High School in Calcutta, India.
Touched by the utter poverty and misery in India, she decided to devote her whole life for the welfare of the poor and finally became a citizen of India in 1948. Mother Teresa established a congregation called the Missionaries of Charity. She began her work in India by teaching the children of the streets how to read. In 1950, Mother Teresa began caring for lepers as well. In 1965, Pope Paul VI put the Missionaries of Charity under his protection and gave Mother Teresa permission to expand her Order to other countries. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 over her own objections, but she accepted it on behalf of the "poorest of the poor". Later in 1980, she was conferred upon with the highest civilian honor in India, Bharat Ratna. In August 1997, she departed to the divine abode.
Mother Teresa's Wisdom: Her Favorite Sayings
