Mother Teresa

Early life and work

Teresa was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Üsküb, a town in the Ottoman province of Kosovo (now Skopje in the Republic of Macedonia), where her father was a successful merchant. Her parents had three children, and Agnes Gonxha was youngest. Her parents, Nikollë (Kolë) and Dranafile Bojaxhiu, came from the city of Prizren in the south of Kosovo. They were Catholics, even though most Albanians are Muslim and the majority of the population in their native Macedonia are Macedonian Orthodox.

Related Topics:
Üsküb - Ottoman - Kosovo - Skopje - Republic of Macedonia - Merchant - Prizren - Muslim - Macedonian Orthodox

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Little is known of Teresa's early life except from her own reminiscences. She recounted that she felt a vocation to help the poor from the age of 12, and decided to train for missionary work in India. She was a member of the youth group in her local parish called Sodality. At 18, the Vatican granted Teresa permission to leave Skopje and join the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns in Rathfarnham with a mission in Calcutta.

Related Topics:
India - Vatican - Sisters of Loreto - Irish - Rathfarnham - Calcutta

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She chose the Sisters of Loreto because of their vocation to provide education for girls. After a few months training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin she was sent to Darjeeling in India as a novice sister. In 1931, she made her first vows there, choosing the name Sister Mary Teresa in honour of Teresa of Avila and Thérèse de Lisieux. She took her final vows in May 1937, acquiring the religious title Mother Teresa.

Related Topics:
Blessed Virgin Mary - Dublin - Darjeeling - 1931 - Teresa of Avila - Thérèse de Lisieux - 1937

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From 1930 to 1948 Mother Teresa taught geography and catechism at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, becoming its principal in 1944. She later said that the poverty all around left a deep impression on her. In September 1946, by her own account, she received a calling from God "to serve Him among the poorest of the poor."

Related Topics:
1930 - 1948 - Geography - Catechism - 1944 - 1946 - God

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In 1948 she received permission from Pope Pius XII, via the Archbishop of Calcutta, to leave her community and live as an independent nun. She quit the high school and, after a short course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, she returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the Poor. She then started an open-air school for homeless children. Soon she was joined by voluntary helpers, and she received financial support from church organizations and the municipal authorities.

Related Topics:
1948 - Pope Pius XII - Archbishop

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