mother teresa short biography videos

My Catholic Kids

The ultimate guide to making a jesse tree.

• “Just in Time for Christmas” Stackable Freebies 
• Advent In July DEALS!
• Advent in July Sale 2018
• All Saints Day Story & Coloring Sheet
• All the Saints
• Almost Finished!
• An Important Update About The Diving Into The Mass Videos
• Back to School Deals!
• Bible Character Coloring Sheets
• Bible Character Story Book | PDF
• Bible Characters Ebook
• Bite-Sized Saints 3D Render
• Black Friday Weekend Deals 2017
• Blessed Father Solanus Casey
• Blessed Mother
• CF campaign form
• CF Dashboard
• CF Listing Page
• CF User Registration
• Children’s Miraculous Medal
• Children’s Miraculous Medal Launch
• Children’s Miraculous Medal Pre-Sale 1
• Children’s Miraculous Medal Waitlist
• Children’s Missalette Beta Videos
• Children’s Missalette Coming Soon
• Children’s Missalette Videos
• Children’s Missalette Waitlist
• Congratulations!
• Cyber Monday Week Deals 2018
• Day 3: The Collect & the First Reading
• Diving into the Mass Mini Course
• Diving into the Mass Mini Course | Full Course
• Diving into the Mass Mini Course | Sign Up for Oceans of Mercy Conference Goers
• Diving Into The Mass:
• Diving into the Mass:
• Download Your Jesse Tree
• Easter 2020 Specials
• Fishing for Saint Coloring Sheets
• Fishing For Saints 2 Relaunch Landing Page
• Fishing for Saints Game
• Fishing for Saints I Prayer Ebook
• Fishing for Saints II Prayer Ebook
• Fishing for Saints Waitlist
• Free Stickers for Kids Who Complete the Diving into the Mass Mini Course!
• Get Notified
• Get Your Free Saint Valentines!
• Get Your Referral Link
• Gloria | Diving into the Mass
• Help Us Bring Back The Children’s Missalette! Kickstarter Launches Monday, May 2nd
• Here they are!
• Holy Communion & the Final Blessing
• Holy Communion & The Final Blessing
• International My Catholic Magnets Custom Saint
• Jesse Tree Printables
• Just In Time for Easter 2019
• Kyrie | Diving into the Mass
• Missalette Video
• Mother Teresa
• My Catholic Magnets Custom Saint
• My Catholic Magnets Gift Subscriptions
• My Catholic Magnets Subscription
• My Jesse Tree
• NEW Catholic Kids Children’s Play!! + Plus FREE Stickers with every $10 purchase
• New Instagram
• Newsletter Signup
• Our Lady of Fatima
• Our Lady of Guadalupe
• Papal Coloring Sheets
• Pope Francis
• Pope John Paul II
• Printable Saint Valentine Valentines
• Printable Saint Valentines
• Privacy Policy
• Saint Bakhita
• Saint Bernadette
• Saint BINGO
• Saint Catherine Labouré
• Saint Frances Cabrini
• Saint Francis of Assisi
• Saint Francisco
• Saint Gabriel the Archangel
• Saint Gemma
• Saint George
• Saint Gianna
• Saint Isidore of Seville
• Saint Jacinta
• Saint Joan of Arc
• Saint Joseph
• Saint Kateri
• Saint Lazarus
• Saint Michael the Archangel
• Saint Nicholas
• Saint Padre Pio
• Saint Patrick
• Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
• Saint Valentine Coloring Sheet
• Saints Perpetua & Felicity
• Servant of God Thea Bowman
• St. Charles Borromeo Story & Coloring Sheet
• Subscription
• subscription old
• Thanks for Subscribing!
• The Annunciation
• The Collect & the First Reading
• The Creed & the Prayer of the Faithful
• The Gospel & the Homily
• The Kyrie & The Gloria
• The Our Father & the Agnus Dei
• The Our Father & The Agnus Dei
• The Presentation of the Gifts & the Eucharistic Prayer
• The Presentation of the Gifts & The Eucharistic Prayer
• The Psalm & the Second Reading
• The Sanctus & the Consecration
• The Sign of the Cross & The Greeting
• Ultimate Catholic Activities FREE During COVID-19 Crisis
• Unsubscribe Successful
• Unus Deus Waitlist

Mother Teresa: Saint of the Poor

Mother Teresa, also known as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, was born on August 26, 1910, and given the name of Agnes.  She was baptized on August 27, and she always considered this her “true birthday.”

At the age of eighteen, Agnes joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland.  She hoped to learn English so she could become a missionary with the Sisters of Loreto in India.

On May 24, Agnes made her first profession and took the name of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the patron of Missionaries.  Since another sister had taken the name Therese, Agnes chose the Spanish spelling and became known as Sister Teresa.  During this time, Sister Teresa worked as a teacher.  On May 14, 1937, Sister Teresa made her final profession.

“You can help your children celebrate the feast of Saint Mother Teresa with her magnet !” – Theresa 

Serving the Poor

Sister Teresa was transferred to the convent school of the Sisters of Loreto in Calcutta, and she taught there for almost twenty years.  During her years teaching, she became disturbed by the poverty that abounded in Calcutta.

On September 10, 1946, Sister Teresa experienced “the call within the call.”  She describes the experience in the following way,

“I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.  It was an order.  To fail would have been to break the faith.”

In 1948, Teresa donned a cotton sari (traditional Indian garb) with a blue border.  Armed with Indian citizen and basic medical training, Teresa ventured into the slums.  She founded a school and began caring for the poor and the hungry.  Women began joining her in her work in 1949.  Teresa then began formulating the groundwork for a new religious community dedicated to serving “the poorest of the poor.”

Missionaries of Charity

The road to founding a new community was filled with difficulties but that did not discourage Teresa.  On October 7, 1950, the Vatican approved Teresa’s new community of thirteen sisters which would care for those who had no one to care for them – “the poorest of the poor,” the unlovable, and the burdensome, and the shunned.  Teresa became Mother Teresa and served as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity from 1950 until her death in 1997.

Each member makes the customary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  However, they also make a fourth vow – to give wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor .  In 1963, Mother Teresa also founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers.

At the time of Mother Teresa’s death, the Missionaries of Charity had grown to more than 4,000 sisters and 300 brothers working at 610 missions in more than 123 countries.

Honors and Awards

Mother Teresa gave so much to so many people.  In her own words,

“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.”

Mother Teresa was fluent in five languages and traveled often.  Her work quickly gained global recognition and she received many awards including:

India’s highest civilian award (the Bharat Ratna ) in 1970; the Inaugural Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971; the Albert Schwitzer International Prize in 1975; the Pacem in Terris Award, the La Storta Medal for Human Service , and the Poverello Medal in 1976; the Balzan Prize in 1 978; the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979; the Order of Merit in 1983; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 .

Mother Teresa’s official biography was published in 1992 and on November 16, 1996, she was given honorary United States citizenship.  Over the years, Mother Teresa received several honorary degrees and many more awards than those that are listed here.

Lasting Legacy

In 1983, Mother Teresa had a heart attack while she was visiting Pope Saint John Paul II.  In 1989, she had another heart attack.  After an attack of Pneumonia and more heart problems in 1991, Mother Teresa offered to resign as superior general, but the sisters voted for her to stay and she agreed.

Mother Teresa fell and broke her collarbone in April of 1996.  In August she contracted malaria and had heart failure.  Her health steadily declined and on March 13, 1997, Mother Teresa resigned as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity.

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 87.  She was beatified on October 19, 2003 by Pope Saint John Paul II.  On September 4, 2016, Pope Francis canonized Blessed Mother Teresa!  Saint Teresa’s feast day is September 5 and she is the patron Saint of World Youth Day and The Missionaries of Charity.  On September 6, 2017, she was also chosen as the co-patron of the Archdiocese of Calcutta along with Saint Francis Xavier.

Her love for the poor and the marginalized should inspire us to serve others and to find Christ even in those we consider unlovable.  Love is a choice and every day, Mother Teresa chose love and service.  She found Christ in the poorest of the poor and we can find Christ in all those around us.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, please pray for us!

“Intense love does not measure.  It just gives.”  Mother Teresa

Biography Online

Biography Mother Teresa

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.”

– Mother Teresa. From: No Greater Love

Short Biography of Mother Teresa

On her arrival in India, she began by working as a teacher; however, the widespread poverty of Calcutta made a deep impression on her, and this led to her starting a new order called “The Missionaries of Charity”. The primary objective of this mission was to look after people, who nobody else was prepared to look after. Mother Teresa felt that serving others was a fundamental principle of the teachings of Jesus Christ. She often mentioned the saying of Jesus,

“Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.”

As Mother Teresa said herself:

“Love cannot remain by itself – it has no meaning. Love has to be put into action, and that action is service .” – Mother Teresa

In 1952, she opened her first home for the dying, which allowed people to die with dignity. Mother Teresa often spent time with those who were dying. Some have criticised the lack of proper medical attention, and their refusal to give painkillers. Others say that it afforded many neglected people the opportunity to die knowing that someone cared.

Her work spread around the world. By 2013, there were 700 missions operating in over 130 countries. The scope of their work also expanded to include orphanages and hospices for those with terminal illnesses.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

—- Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa never sought to convert those of another faith. Those in her hospices were given the religious rites appropriate to their faith. However, she had a very firm Catholic faith and took a strict line on abortion, the death penalty and divorce – even if her position was unpopular. Her whole life was influenced by her faith and religion, even though at times she confessed she didn’t feel the presence of God.

The Missionaries of Charity now has branches throughout the world including branches in the developed world where they work with the homeless and people affected by AIDS. In 1965, the organisation became an International Religious Family by a decree of Pope Paul VI.

In the 1960s, the life of Mother Teresa was brought to a wider public attention by Malcolm Muggeridge who wrote a book and produced a documentary called “ Something Beautiful for God ”.

In later years, she was more active in western developed countries. She commented that though the West was materially prosperous, there was often a spiritual poverty.

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”

-— Mother Teresa

When she was asked how to promote world peace, she replied,”Go home and love your family”.

Over the last two decades of her life, Mother Teresa suffered various health problems, but nothing could dissuade her from fulfilling her mission of serving the poor and needy. Until her very last illness she was active in travelling around the world to the different branches of The Missionaries of Charity. During her last few years, she met Princess Diana in the Bronx, New York. The two died within a week of each other.

Following Mother Teresa’s death, the Vatican began the process of beatification, which is the second step on the way to canonization and sainthood. Mother Teresa was formally beatified in October 2003 by Pope John Paul II . In September 2015, Pope Francis declared:

“Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded,” “She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity. 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.”

Mother Teresa was a living saint who offered a great example and inspiration to the world.

Awards given to Mother Teresa

• The first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize. (1971)
• Kennedy Prize (1971)
• The Nehru Prize –“for the promotion of international peace and understanding”(1972)
• Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975),
• The Nobel Peace Prize (1979)
• States Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985)
• Congressional Gold Medal (1994)
• U Thant Peace Award 1994
• Honorary citizenship of the United States (November 16, 1996),

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “ Biography of Mother Teresa ”, Oxford, UK.  www.biographyonline.net , 18th May 2006. (Updated September 2016)

Mother Teresa Biography

Mother Teresa Biography at Amazon

No Greater Love – Mother Teresa

No Greater Love by Mother Teresa at Amazon

Related Pages

External Links

• Mother Teresa Biography – Vatican
• Nobel Prize Biography

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. Considered one of the 20th Century's greatest humanitarians, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016.

(1910-1997)

Who Was Mother Teresa?

Nun and missionary Mother Teresa, known in the Catholic church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, devoted her life to caring for the sick and poor. Born in Macedonia to parents of Albanian-descent and having taught in India for 17 years, Mother Teresa experienced her "call within a call" in 1946. Her order established a hospice; centers for the blind, aged and disabled; and a leper colony.

In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized on September 4, 2016.

Mother Teresa’s Family and Young Life

Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The following day, she was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.

Mother Teresa’s parents, Nikola and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, were of Albanian descent; her father was an entrepreneur who worked as a construction contractor and a trader of medicines and other goods. The Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family, and Nikola was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics as a vocal proponent of Albanian independence.

In 1919, when Mother Teresa — then Agnes — was only eight years old, her father suddenly fell ill and died. While the cause of his death remains unknown, many have speculated that political enemies poisoned him.

In the aftermath of her father's death, Agnes became extraordinarily close to her mother, a pious and compassionate woman who instilled in her daughter a deep commitment to charity. Although by no means wealthy, Drana Bojaxhiu extended an open invitation to the city's destitute to dine with her family. "My child, never eat a single mouthful unless you are sharing it with others," she counseled her daughter. When Agnes asked who the people eating with them were, her mother uniformly responded, "Some of them are our relations, but all of them are our people."

Education and Nunhood

Agnes attended a convent-run primary school and then a state-run secondary school. As a girl, she sang in the local Sacred Heart choir and was often asked to sing solos. The congregation made an annual pilgrimage to the Church of the Black Madonna in Letnice, and it was on one such trip at the age of 12 that she first felt a calling to religious life. Six years later, in 1928, an 18-year-old Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin. It was there that she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

A year later, Sister Mary Teresa traveled on to Darjeeling, India, for the novitiate period; in May 1931, she made her First Profession of Vows. Afterward, she was sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for Girls, a school run by the Loreto Sisters and dedicated to teaching girls from the city's poorest Bengali families. Sister Teresa learned to speak both Bengali and Hindi fluently as she taught geography and history and dedicated herself to alleviating the girls' poverty through education.

On May 24, 1937, she took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience. As was the custom for Loreto nuns, she took on the title of "Mother" upon making her final vows and thus became known as Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa continued to teach at Saint Mary's, and in 1944 she became the school's principal. Through her kindness, generosity and unfailing commitment to her students' education, she sought to lead them to a life of devotion to Christ. "Give me the strength to be ever the light of their lives, so that I may lead them at last to you," she wrote in prayer.

'Call Within a Call'

On September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced a second calling, the "call within a call" that would forever transform her life. She was riding in a train from Calcutta to the Himalayan foothills for a retreat when she said Christ spoke to her and told her to abandon teaching to work in the slums of Calcutta aiding the city's poorest and sickest people.

Since Mother Teresa had taken a vow of obedience, she could not leave her convent without official permission. After nearly a year and a half of lobbying, in January 1948 she finally received approval to pursue this new calling. That August, donning the blue-and-white sari that she would wear in public for the rest of her life, she left the Loreto convent and wandered out into the city. After six months of basic medical training, she voyaged for the first time into Calcutta's slums with no more specific a goal than to aid "the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for."

Missionaries of Charity

Mother Teresa quickly translated her calling into concrete actions to help the city's poor. She began an open-air school and established a home for the dying destitute in a dilapidated building she convinced the city government to donate to her cause. In October 1950, she won canonical recognition for a new congregation, the Missionaries of Charity, which she founded with only a handful of members—most of them former teachers or pupils from St. Mary's School.

As the ranks of her congregation swelled and donations poured in from around India and across the globe, the scope of Mother Teresa's charitable activities expanded exponentially. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics.

In 1971, Mother Teresa traveled to New York City to open her first American-based house of charity, and in the summer of 1982, she secretly went to Beirut, Lebanon, where she crossed between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut to aid children of both faiths. In 1985, Mother Teresa returned to New York and spoke at the 40th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly. While there, she also opened Gift of Love, a home to care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.

Mother Teresa’s Awards and Recognition

In February 1965, Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise upon the Missionaries of Charity, which prompted Mother Teresa to begin expanding internationally. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered more than 4,000 — in addition to thousands more lay volunteers — with 610 foundations in 123 countries around the world.

The Decree of Praise was just the beginning, as Mother Teresa received various honors for her tireless and effective charity. She was awarded the Jewel of India, the highest honor bestowed on Indian civilians, as well as the now-defunct Soviet Union's Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work "in bringing help to suffering humanity."

Criticism of Mother Teresa

Despite this widespread praise, Mother Teresa's life and work have not gone without its controversies. In particular, she has drawn criticism for her vocal endorsement of some of the Catholic Church's more controversial doctrines, such as opposition to contraception and abortion. "I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion," Mother Teresa said in her 1979 Nobel lecture.

In 1995, she publicly advocated a "no" vote in the Irish referendum to end the country's constitutional ban on divorce and remarriage. The most scathing criticism of Mother Teresa can be found in Christopher Hitchens' book The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice , in which Hitchens argued that Mother Teresa glorified poverty for her own ends and provided a justification for the preservation of institutions and beliefs that sustained widespread poverty.

DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S MOTHER TERESA FACT CARD

When and How Mother Teresa Died

After several years of deteriorating health, including heart, lung and kidney problems, Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87.

Mother Teresa’s Letters

In 2003, the publication of Mother Teresa’s private correspondence caused a wholesale re-evaluation of her life by revealing the crisis of faith she suffered for most of the last 50 years of her life.

In one despairing letter to a confidant, she wrote, "Where is my Faith—even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness—My God—how painful is this unknown pain—I have no Faith—I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart—& make me suffer untold agony." While such revelations are shocking considering her public image, they have also made Mother Teresa a more relatable and human figure to all those who experience doubt in their beliefs.

Mother Teresa’s Miracles and Canonization

In 2002, the Vatican recognized a miracle involving an Indian woman named Monica Besra, who said she was cured of an abdominal tumor through Mother Teresa's intercession on the one-year anniversary of her death in 1998. She was beatified (declared in heaven) as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta" on October 19, 2003, by Pope John Paul II .

On December 17, 2015, Pope Francis issued a decree that recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The second miracle involved the healing of Marcilio Andrino, a Brazilian man who was diagnosed with a viral brain infection and lapsed into a coma. His wife, family and friends prayed to Mother Teresa, and when the man was brought to the operating room for emergency surgery, he woke up without pain and was cured of his symptoms, according to a statement from the Missionaries of Charity Father.

Mother Teresa was canonized as a saint on September 4, 2016, 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. Tens of thousands of Catholics and pilgrims from around the world attended the canonization to celebrate the woman who had been called “the saint of the gutters” during her lifetime because of her charitable work with the poor.

“After due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a saint, and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole church,” Pope Francis said in Latin.

The Pope spoke about Mother Teresa’s life of service in the homily. ”Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded," he said. "She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity. 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. “Mercy was the salt which gave flavor to her work, it was the light which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering,” he said, adding. "May she be your model of holiness."

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."

John Paul II

"],["

Pope Francis

"]]" tml-render-layout="inline">

QUICK FACTS

• Name: Teresa
• Birth Year: 1910
• Birth date: August 26, 1910
• Birth City: Skopje
• Birth Country: Macedonia
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. Considered one of the 20th Century's greatest humanitarians, she was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta in 2016.
• Christianity
• Astrological Sign: Virgo
• Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Nacionalities
• Macedonian (Macedonia)
• Albanian (Albania)
• Interesting Facts
• On religious pilgrimage at the age of 12, Mother Teresa experienced her calling to devote her life to Christ.
• Through her own letters, Mother Teresa expressed doubt and wrestled with her faith.
• Mother Teresa was canonized after the Vatican verified two people's claims of having experienced miracles through her.
• Death Year: 1997
• Death date: September 5, 1997
• Death City: Calcutta
• Death Country: India

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Mother Teresa Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/religious-figures/mother-teresa
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: February 24, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
• God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
• Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family.
• Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen, for God speaks in the silence of the heart.
• Little things are indeed little, but to be faithful in little things is a great thing.
• If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.
• Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness.
• Speak tenderly to them. Let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well.
• Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world.
• There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives-the pain the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. The poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.
• Like Jesus, we belong to the world not living for ourselves but for others. The joy of the Lord is our strength.

Nobel Prize Winners

Alice Munro

Chien-Shiung Wu

The Solar Eclipse That Made Albert Einstein a Star

14 Hispanic Women Who Have Made History

Marie Curie

Martin Luther King Jr.

Henry Kissinger

Malala Yousafzai

Jimmy Carter

10 Famous Poets Whose Enduring Works We Still Read

22 Famous Scientists You Should Know

Wole Soyinka

• The Bible in a Year
• The Catechism in a Year
• Ask Fr. Josh
• All Things Catholic
• Catholic Classics
• Every Knee Shall Bow
• Girlfriends
• Sunday Homilies Podcast
• The Fr. Mike Schmitz Podcast
• The Jeff Cavins Show
• The Tightrope
• La Biblia en un Año
• Fr. Mike Schmitz
• Sunday Homilies
• Fr. Josh Johnson
• Jackie and Bobby Angel
• Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFRs)
• The Bible Timeline Show (with Jeff Cavins)
• Encountering The Word: Year A

Mother Teresa, the Saint of Kolkata (Animated Short Film)

Today is St. Teresa of Kolkata’s feast day! Enjoy this short film about the Missionary Mother of the poor and her vision of Jesus in the eyes of all those in need.

This is an excerpt from “ Connected: Catholic Social Teaching for This Generation.”

Listen to Fr. Mike’s new podcast, The Catechism in a Year !

If you have ever wanted to understand what it means to be Catholic and allow those truths to shape your life—this podcast is for you!

Get the free reading plan

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

How to Admit You Have a Problem

They say that the first step is admitting you have a problem. Another way to say it is this: how can you work on yourself if you don't know yourself first? Today, Fr. Mark-Mary shares the power of accepting where you're at right now and allowing God to start working...

What to Do If Your House Is Haunted (and What NOT to Do)

If you heard "something go bump in the night" and wondered if your house was haunted, you're not alone. There's a good chance that there's a natural explanation for whatever you're experiencing but… hauntings do, in fact, happen. What should you do? Dave VanVickle...

How to Pray the Rosary Like Never Before (+ NEW Podcast)

"Father, I know I should love the Rosary, but I am struggling." Is this you? Do you ever feel disconnected, confused, or stuck praying the Rosary? Or have you been praying the Rosary everyday and wondering if this is as good as it gets? In Ascension’s Rosary in a Year...

Mother Teresa

• Occupation: Catholic Nun
• Born: August 26, 1910 in Uskub, Ottoman Empire
• Died: September 5, 1997 in Calcutta, India
• Best known for: Fighting for the rights of the sick and helpless
• Mother Teresa has been beatified by the Catholic Church. This is a step on the way to becoming a Saint. She is now called Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.
• She never saw her mother or sister again after leaving home to become a missionary.
• Albania's international airport is named after her, the Aeroporti Nene Tereza.
• She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Rather than have the traditional Nobel honor banquet, she asked that the money for the banquet be donated to the poor of India.
• She once traveled through a war zone to rescue 37 children from the front lines.
• She received numerous awards for all her charity work including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan .
• It takes around 9 years of service to become a full member of the Missionaries of Charity.
• Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

Stations of the Cross: Every Friday of Lent

We ask you, humbly, to help..

• Mother Teresa of Calcutta

• An address at the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 3, 1994
• Announcing the Canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• History of the Cause of Mother Teresa
• Mother Teresa Fact Sheet
• Mother Teresa Quotes
• Prayer by Mother Teresa to the UN Womens Conference in Beijing

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , the future Mother Teresa, was born on 26 August 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian heritage. Her father, a well-respected local businessman, died when she was eight years old, leaving her mother, a devoutly religious woman, to open an embroidery and cloth business to support the family. After spending her adolescence deeply involved in parish activities, Agnes left home in September 1928, for the Loreto Convent in Rathfarnam (Dublin), Ireland, where she was admitted as a postulant on October 12 and received the name of Teresa, after her patroness, St. Therese of Lisieux.

Mother Teresa is now a Saint, learn more about her journey to sainthood

Agnes was sent by the Loreto order to India and arrived in Calcutta on 6 January 1929. Upon her arrival, she joined the Loreto novitiate in Darjeeling. She made her final profession as a Loreto nun on 24 May 1937, and hereafter was called Mother Teresa. While living in Calcutta during the 1930s and '40s, she taught in St. Mary's Bengali Medium School.

On 10 September 1946, 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. The content of this inspiration is revealed in the aim and 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." On October 7, 1950, the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.

From the late 1960s until 1980, the Missionaries of Charity expanded both in their reach across the globe and in their number of members. Mother Teresa opened houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America, and the first novitiate outside Calcutta in London. In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. By that same year there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.

The Missionaries of Charity reached Communist countries in 1979 with a house in Zagreb, Croatia, and in 1980 with a house in East Berlin, and continued to expand through the 1980s and 1990s with houses in almost all Communist nations, including 15 foundations in the former Soviet Union. Despite repeated efforts, however, Mother Teresa was never able to open a foundation in China.

Mother Teresa spoke at the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly in October 1985. On Christmas Eve of that year, Mother Teresa opened "Gift of Love" in New York, her first house for AIDS patients. In the coming years, this home would be followed by others, in the United States and elsewhere, devoted specifically for those with AIDS.

From the late 1980s through the 1990s, despite increasing health problems, Mother Teresa traveled across the world for the profession of novices, opening of new houses, and service to the poor and disaster-stricken. New communities were founded in South Africa, Albania, Cuba, and war-torn Iraq. By 1997, the Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world.

After a summer of traveling to Rome, New York, and Washington, in a weak state of health, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta in July 1997. At 9:30 PM, on 5 September, Mother Teresa died at the Motherhouse. Her body was transferred to St Thomas's Church, next to the Loreto convent where she had first arrived nearly 69 years earlier. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects. She received a state funeral on 13 September, her body being taken in procession - on a gun carriage that had also borne the bodies of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru - through the streets of Calcutta. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present on behalf of countries from all over the world.

The Battle for Catholic Education - Prevent the Collapse Now!

Secret Archives of the Saints, Subscribe Today

Join the movement when you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for free world class catholic education..

• Mysteries of the Rosary Mysteries of the Rosary
• St. Faustina Kowalska St. Faustina Kowalska
• Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• Saint of the Day for Wednesday, Oct 4th, 2023 Saint of the Day for ...
• Popular Saints Popular Saints
• St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi
• Bible Bible
• Female / Women Saints Female / Women Saints
• 7 Morning Prayers you need to get your day started with God 7 Morning Prayers you need to ...

The 'Black Legend': Historian Argues Anti-Catholic Bias in Spanish Conquest Narratives

This Catholic Hero Who Fought Against Communism Should Be Released Immediately

Entrance to the Underworld Discovered Beneath Ancient Zapotec Site in Mexico

All saints' day and all souls' day: a celebration, all saints' day, halloween and all souls' day: what's the difference, daily catholic.

• Daily Readings for Tuesday, November 05, 2024
• St. Elizabeth: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 05, 2024
• Prayer to Saint Michael for Powerful Aid: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, November 05, 2024

Find the best Christmas presents at Catholic Online Shopping

Saints & angels.

• Saints Feast Days
• Female Saints
• Saint of the Day
• Browse Saints
• Popular Saints
• Patron Saints
• Saint Fun Facts
• Martyr Saints
• More Saints & Angels

• Mysteries of the Rosary
• Stations of the Cross
• Guide for Confession
• Prayer of the Day
• Browse Prayers
• Popular Prayers
• Holy Rosary
• Sacraments of the Catholic Church
• More Prayers
• Daily Readings
• New Testament
• Old Testament
• Books of the Bible
• Ten Commandments

More of Catholic Online

• Lent & Easter
• Advent & Christmas
• Catholic Encyclopedia
• All of Catholic Online

Download 100's of Prayers for free

• Privacy Statement
• Terms of Service

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

To all our readers, Please don't scroll past this.

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

Mother Teresa

By: History.com Editors

Published: February 26, 2024

Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, an organization that serves the poorest of the world’s population. An ethnic Albanian, born in what is now Macedonia, she lived and worked in India for nearly seven decades and became a citizen of that country. Her dedication to helping the poorest and sickest communities in Kolkata (then Calcutta) earned Mother Teresa widespread fame and numerous honors, including the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Childhood and Move to India

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in what is now Skopje, North Macedonia; at the time it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Her family was of Albanian descent; her father, a reasonably successful merchant, died when she was just eight years old. After his death, the family struggled financially, but her mother instilled in young Agnes the importance of leading a Christian life and serving the less fortunate.

At the age of 12, Agnes first felt a calling to become a nun and devote her life to God. She left home at the age of 18 and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish Catholic order with missions in India. She received training near Dublin, where she began learning English, before traveling to Kolkata (then known as Calcutta), India in late 1928. She took her first vows as a nun in May 1931, and received a new name: Teresa, after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. In 1937, when she took her final vows, she became known as Mother Teresa.

'Call Within a Call'

From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught geography, history and catechism at St. Mary’s High School in Kolkata. She learned Bengali and Hindi, and eventually became the school’s principal. She also regularly visited the city’s slums and saw how suffering increased there during the devastating famine in 1943, which killed hundreds of thousands of people in India’s Bengal province.

In September 1946, Mother Teresa experienced what she described as a “call within a call” while riding on a train within India. In response, she sought and received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and live and work in the slums among the city’s sickest and poorest residents. With this move, Mother Teresa began wearing what would become her trademark garb: a white sari with a blue border, later adopted as the habit for the other nuns who worked alongside her.

The Order of the Missionaries of Charity 

In 1950, Mother Teresa received permission from the Holy See to found her own order, the Missionaries of Charity. The order’s purpose was to help the poor while living among them, sharing their experience and treating them with kindness, compassion and empathy, but never pity. Mother Teresa and those who joined her order built various facilities as an open-air school, housing for orphan children, nursing homes for lepers and hospices for terminally ill patients.

Mother Teresa’s order expanded over the years to serve communities outside Kolkata, and in 1965, received permission from Pope Paul VI to expand internationally. It opened its first center in the United States in 1971 in New York City, and would eventually reach around 90 countries.

As her work earned her international renown, Mother Teresa was awarded honors including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). In 1975, she was featured on the cover of TIME magazine and called one of the world’s “living saints.”

Nobel Peace Prize and Criticism

In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what the prize committee cited as her “work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress in the world, which also constitute a threat to peace.” By that time, the Missionaries of Charity included more than 1,800 nuns and 120,000 lay workers, working in more than 80 centers in India and more than 100 other centers internationally. The following year, the Indian government awarded Mother Teresa the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Despite her numerous honors and widespread fame and admiration, Mother Teresa became a target of criticism as well. She held hard-line conservative views against divorce, contraception and abortion , as well as highly traditional views about the role of women in society. Some critics cast doubt on the level of hygiene and care at some of her order’s facilities; others accused her of trying to convert the people she served to Christianity.

Declining Health, Death and Sainthood 

After suffering a heart attack in 1989, Mother Teresa attempted to resign as head of the Missionaries of Charity but was returned to that office by a nearly unanimous vote; hers was the only dissent. In 1997, her worsening health forced her permanent retirement, and the order chose an Indian-born nun, Sister Nirmala, to replace her. Mother Teresa suffered cardiac arrest and died on September 5, 1997, in Kolkata, just days after her 87th birthday.

As the world mourned Mother Teresa’s death, Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to speed the process of her canonization, or becoming a saint. In 2003, he beatified Mother Teresa after an Indian woman attributed her recovery from stomach cancer to Mother Teresa’s intercession, which the Vatican recognized as a miracle.

Twelve years later, the Holy See recognized a second miracle, after a Brazilian man recovered from a life-threatening brain infection after his family prayed to Mother Teresa. In September 2016, Pope Francis I officially declared Mother Teresa a saint 19 years after her death—a markedly fast pace for modern times.

“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,” the Pope said in the canonization ceremony, held in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City .

Mother Teresa - Biographical. The Nobel Prize .

Eric Pace, “Mother Teresa, Hope of the Despairing, Dies at 87.” The New York Times , September 6, 1997.

Kathryn Spink. Mother Teresa: A Complete Authorized Biography , (Harper Collins, 1997).

Elisabetta Povoledo, “Mother Teresa Is Made a Saint by Pope Francis.” The New York Times , September 3, 2016.

Mallika Kapur and Sugam Pokharel, “‘Troubled individual:’ Mother Teresa no saint to her critics.” CNN , September 4, 2016.

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Mother Teresa

Please enable JavaScript

The woman known as Mother Teresa was born in 1910 in what is now known as the Republic of Macedonia. She came from a comfortable family that were deeply religious and devoted to the Roman Catholic Church, and very committed to helping those less fortunate. This would be the legacy that her family gave to her as Mother Teresa became one of the most well-known and beloved religious members that were devoted to the poor.

She made the decision to leave her family and become a nun at the young age of 18 with the desire to be a teacher. She traveled to Ireland and then later to India for her novitiate period. Once she took her First Profession of Vows, she was sent to Calcutta, India as a teacher at Saint Mary’s High School for Girls that was operated by the Loreto Sisters. The order was dedicated to teaching the girls of some of the poorest Bengali families and it was here that Mother Teresa learned to speak both Hindi and Bengali. Her hopes as a teacher was to help to eliminate the poverty of the girls through education.

By 1937, Mother Teresa took her Final Profession of Vows to a life of chastity, poverty and obedience and it was at that time that, as a nun, she took on the Loreto nun’s title of ‘Mother’. She continued to teach in the school and in 1944 became the school principal and she was loved by many for her kindness and devotion to education.

It was in 1946 that Mother Teresa experienced something that would change her life. While riding on a train from Calcutta for a retreat, she said Christ spoke to her and told her to leave the teaching work that she was doing and work in the Calcutta slums, helping the sickest and poorest people of the city. She said she heard Christ saying: “I want Indian Nuns, Missionaries of Charity, who would be my fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying and the little children. You are I know the most incapable person—weak and sinful but just because you are that—I want to use You for My glory. Wilt thou refuse?”

Her vow of obedience would not allow her to leave her convent without official permission and she spent almost 1 ½ years lobbying to be released. In 1948 she received her local Archbishop’s approval to pursue her new calling and in August, wearing the traditional blue and white sari that she would be known for, she left the convent and headed to Calcutta. She spent six months in basic medical training and then went to the slums to help “the unwanted, the unloved, the uncared for.”

Mother Teresa set up an open-air school and then a home for the dying in an old building that was donated to her. In 1950 she achieved canonical recognition for the Missionaries of Charity as a new congregation. It had only 12 members and most were former students and teachers from the school where she had taught. She and her members continued their efforts in between the 1950’s and 1960’s she established an orphanage, a leper colony, a string of mobile health clinics, a family clinic and a nursing home. Pope Paul VI bestowed the Decree of Praise on the Missionaries of Charity in 1965.

By 1971, Mother Teresa’s work had become internationally known. She opened the first American charity in 1982 and then traveled to the Muslim area of Beirut to help children of both Christian and Muslim faiths. She was invited in 1985 to speak at the United Nations 40th Anniversary General Assembly and while she was there, she also opened a home called ‘Gift of Love’ to help in caring for those that were infected with HIV/AIDS.

Mother Teresa received the Jewel of India award which is the highest honor that an Indian civilian can receive. She also received the Soviet Union’s Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee and in 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work “in bringing help to suffering humanity.”

When she passed away in 1997, her Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 members with thousands as lay volunteers and over 610 foundations that covered 123 countries in all of the seven continents.

• Ancient Egypt Coloring Pages
• Ancient Egypt Quizzes
• Ancient Egypt Worksheets

Try Worksheets

• American Coloring Page
• America Quizzes
• America Worksheets

• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Rome
• Ancient Greece
• American History
• Asian Middle Ages

© 2024 History for Kids. All rights reserved.

History of Mother Teresa for Kids

On August 26, 1910 a baby girl was born in the city of Skopje (SKOP-eeh-eh), Macedonia. Her parents named her Agnes. They were the Bojaxhiu (boy-a-GEE-you) family and they were Albanian. Agne’s father, Nikola, owned a construction company and was on the town council. Many people knew her father and he did his best to earn money for his family and make his city a better place. Drana was Agne’s mother and she loved to take care of the poor and the needy. Often when Agne’s and her siblings came to dinner, Drana had invited strangers to eat with them. Agnes later found out these people were poor, and even though her mother didn’t know them, she fed them and often let them spend the night if they didn’t needed a place to stay. During the day, Drana went out into the city to share food and water with the needy. She often took Agnes along to help.

Agnes and her family were Catholic, which is a religion that believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus. Many people in their city were Muslim or Jewish, which had different beliefs, but Drana taught her family that they should love and serve people of all races and religions. Religion was an important part of their family  tradition. Agnes sang in the choir, the prayed daily and went to church weekly. Agnes liked to read about Catholic missionaries who travelled the world. A missionary is someone who moves far away to teach others about their religion and serve them.

When Agnes was 12 years old she had a deeply spiritual experience and decided her life’s mission would be to help others. When she was 14 she started teaching Sunday School at church and joined a group called the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which met together to pray and serve the poor. By 18 she decided to become a missionary nun. In the Catholic Church a nun dedicates her life to her faith and to teaching and serving others. Agne’s mother was proud of her daughter, but knew if she became a nun she would move far away and may never see her again. But finally after much prayer, Drana gave Agnes her support. It was very hard to leave her family, but Agnes was determined and strongly believed this was her life’s mission.

So Agne packed her bags and said goodbye to her family from the train station. It was one of the hardest moments of her life, because she knew she may never see them again. First, she travelled to Ireland, where she lived with other nuns and learned English. Agnes worked hard and picked up on the new language fast. Next, she took a train to Italy and then a boat to Calculutta, India and finally to Darjeeling, India. On the way, she saw crowds of people in the street who were poor, sick, and hungry. Her heart ached and she wanted more than anything to help the suffering.

In Darjeeling, Agnes continued to learn English, and two more languages, Hindi and Begali. She also started teaching children who attended their school. She loved teaching and soon became very good at managing the school and helping the children. During this time Agnes took her vows as a nun and took on a new name, Sister Teresa, after one of her favorite saints of the same name.

Before long, Agnes, now Sister Teresa, was running most of the school and when the Mother Superior became ill, Sister Teresa took her place and from then on was known as Mother Teresa. She continued to teach and loved what she was doing, but often she’d look out the windows of the convent and see people who suffered and needed help. She believed serving them was her true calling, but sadly because she was a nun she wasn’t able to leave the school.

Mother Teresa prayed for the people, but she also believed in taking action, so she received permission to gather a group of nuns and weekly leave the school to take food and medicine to those in need. But for Mother Teresa, this wasn’t enough! She wanted to spend all of her time serving these people — but to do it she’d need permission from the Pope, who was the head of the Catholic Church. So Mother Teresa wrote a letter and continued writing and asking until she was given permission to remain a nun, but also live outside the school and help the people of Calcutta.

Imagine how nervous Mother Teresa felt when she left the safety of her school and ventured into the big city for the first time. In many ways it was a dangerous place, so it required great bravery and faith to venture out in this new, unknown world. Mother Teresa wanted to blend in with the women of India, s0 she changed her black nun’s clothes out for a white traditional robe, called a sari.

After finding a place to live and a little money, Mother Teresa walked the streets of the city looking for people she could help. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she started doing what she did best, teaching! She drew letters in the dirt and curious kids started gathering around her. Soon a huge crowd of children surrounded Mother Teresa each day, hungry to learn, and feel of her love and attention for them.

When people in the city saw what she was doing they started donating money and items to help. Her former students volunteered their time. Before long Mother Teresa started a new order called the Missionaries of Charity. Every day Mother Teresa and her nuns said prayers, ate breakfast, then went out into the slums of Calcutta to help others. A slum is a place where very poor people live. Often their homes are broken down or they sleep on the streets with very little clothes or shelter. There is usually no clean water and garbage and diseases spread easily. 

At first Mother Teresa and the other nuns would carry people to the hospital, but soon the city leaders saw the good they were doing and gave them an old building to use. The nuns cleaned it up and began caring for the sick. Mother Teresa was determined to treat all people equally, regardless of their religion, like her mother taught her. If they were Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu, she still said their prayers with them and did what they asked even though their requests were different than her Catholic faith. 

Leprosy was a disease that infected many people in India. It causes sores all over peoples’ bodies and no one wants to be around them, because they are worried the leprosy will spread. But Mother Teresa wasn’t concerned about herself, so every day she and her helpers drove a van around Calcutta and found lepers in the street. They set aside a special village for the lepers, where they could live and be taken care of.

In 1969 a journalist noticed what Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity were doing in Calcutta, and made a film about them. When people around the world saw what they were doing and what a difference they were making in India, they started donating money and other supplies to help her cause. Remember, that in order for Mother Teresa to help the sick and poor, she needed medicine and buildings and food and money. It takes many humans working together to make a difference! And every little donation helped! Soon, the Missionaries of Charity were able to help even more people and began to open new cities around the world. Next was Rome, Italy and then places like Australia, Africa and England, and later New York. 

In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her goal was never to be famous, she just believed she had a mission to fulfill and did what came natural to her, loving others and serving them. Her life wasn’t always easy and many times she was nervous or afraid. Helping others often takes courage. It can be easy to be too shy or nervous to help someone, but I challenge you to take the leap and do it anyway! Most of the time others are happy to receive help and to just know they are loved and someone cares about them. For example, if someone is new to your class at school or in your neighborhood you can say “hi” to them and let them join in your play. Or take them a plate of cookies. People love to be cared about and feel like they belong. 

One reason Mother Teresa’s organization was successful was because people in India and all over the world donated to help out. Find a cause that you and your family care about and consider donating. Even small amounts make a difference. Our family has donated to different charities over the years and helped pack food for the hungry. Ask your parents about local charities that do the same thing. It’s always a great experience and feels good to know what you are doing makes the world a better place!

• Architecture (17)
• Entertainment (30)
• Holiday (25)
• Journalism (2)
• Legends (7)
• Literature (13)
• Religion (21)
• Sports (15)
• Television (8)
• Theater (7)
• Travel (10)
• Animal Activism (7)
• Animals (9)
• Artists (13)
• Asian History (8)
• Athletes (18)
• Authors (18)
• Black History (19)
• Engineers (29)
• Entertainers (24)
• Entrepreneurs (10)
• Explorers (18)
• Healthcare (2)
• Humanitarians (20)
• Leaders (28)
• Martial Arts (2)
• Military History (20)
• Musicians (6)
• Native Americans (12)
• Politicians (9)
• Revolutionaries (13)
• Scientists (14)
• Soldiers (18)
• U.S. History (9)
• Women's History (51)
• Historical Fiction (1)
• Antarctica (1)
• Australia (3)
• Central America (7)
• England (15)
• Renaissance (3)
• World War I (3)
• World War II (12)
• Mediterranean (10)
• Mesoamerica (3)
• Middle East (7)
• Polynesia (2)
• Scandanavia (1)
• South America (6)
• American Frontier (9)
• American Revolution (6)
• Civil Rights (9)
• Civil War (3)
• Native Americans (5)
• Agriculture (2)
• Archeology (11)
• Astronomy (12)
• Biology (9)
• Chemistry (4)
• Environment (8)
• Geology (7)
• Mathematics (5)
• Medicine (6)
• Mental Illness (1)
• Paleontology (1)
• Physics (6)
• Aviation (7)
• Computer Science (10)
• Engineering (43)
• Inventions (29)
• Military (20)
• Space Travel (8)
• Ancient History (23)
• Middle Ages (10)
• Modern History (94)
• Prehistory (6)
• Uncategorized (6)
• Adventure (30)
• Authenticity (13)
• Balance (8)
• Beauty (14)
• Boldness (69)
• Citizenship (38)
• Community (32)
• Compassion (25)
• Courage (3)
• Creativity (52)
• Curiosity (29)
• Determination (78)
• Fitness (8)
• Happiness (8)
• Honesty (2)
• Imagination (13)
• Justice (9)
• Kindness (9)
• Knowledge (20)
• Leadership (26)
• Learning (8)
• Optimism (4)
• Spirituality (15)
• Sportsmanship (11)
• Teamwork (19)
• Wisdom (14)

What kind of story would you like to hear?

Arts & culture, time periods.

adventure african history american history antarctica baseball Biography boldness british history celts creativity determination england english history episodes event explorers france french history fun graceland great brittain heroes journalism leadership legends military history morality mount everest music olympics optimism queen rock rockabilly rock n' roll round table runner san francisco science space sports u.s history victoria victorian england WWII