Ten days ago, the 5 th of September, people of all the world have met to remember the 10th anniversary of the dead of the Mother Teresa. With this short biography I want to make us remember her and think about all the poor people she had dedicated her life´s work .
Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhio (her real name) on the 27th of August 1910 in Skopje, capital of Macedonia. Gonxha (flower bud) grew up in wealthy Catholic Albanian family. She was brought up very religiously by her parents. Her father died unexpectedly when she was ten; she dedicated even more of her time to her belief following this event. At the age of 12 she decided that she wanted to lead a life as a nun. She followed her desire to become a nun passionately and was accepted into the Loreto Order at the age of 18.
This order and its members were particularly committed to education in Bengal and Indian. Her first post was not in India but in Ireland at the Central office of the Loreto Order. She left Skopje on the 28th of September 1928 for Ireland. After only two months she was allowed to follow her dream and she joined the Loreto Order in Bengal. She took her first vow in Calcutta. She spent the following 17 years in St. Mary's School in Calcutta. Working initially as a teacher, she was later promoted to governor.
It was on one of her numerous journeys through Calcutta in 1946 that she felt God's calling to help the poor. She was granted permission to leave the Order two years later. Teresa left the Order but was allowed to keep her status as a nun Teresa made the decision to live among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. She became known as the "Saint of the Gutters".
In 1949 she was given Indian nationality and founded the "Missionaries of Charity" order in 1950. The members of the order had to take a vow of celibacy and pledge an oath of allegiance to the poor. The order was later recognized by the Pope and placed under his control. Teresa and her order focused mainly on the dieing, the ill and on orphans. She was especially interested in looking after lepers. More than 3,000 nuns and 500 monks in over 100 countries belong to this order today. She received many awards for her selfless work, the most important of which was the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Many of Theresa's workers lacked sufficient medical training. Mother Teresa replied to this by saying: "It is not success, but the dedication to one's faith that is important". Receiving worldwide tribute for her work, she was also criticized for her conservative views. She viewed the abortion policies of many countries, for example, as the largest threat to world peace. Shortly before the Irish were due to vote on whether divorce should be legalized, she urged the Irish to vote no.
Mother Teresa died on 5th of September 1997. She was buried in Calcutta before the gaze of the world's public. She was beatify on 19th of October 2003 by the Pope John Paul II and nowadays they are trying to probe her miracles to finally lead in her canonization.
In my opinion this kind of women are models of life and we all must try to be, day by day, like her. I meant not in the dimensions she have done but in daily life, with the ones we have nearer. If we all do only a little for our neighbour, the society will be better.
4 comments:
I think this is a very interesting theme to talk and discuss about. As Alejandro said, we have to try, day by day, to be like her and in this way society will be better. It is really wonderful and admirable all the charity that this woman make to the world with the only purpose to help others; she'd never have an other interest such as money or exit to become famous and this is something that everyone in this world have to learn about!
Nowadays, there is less love, less compassion, less light in the world. She leaves us a strong message, which has no borders and which goes beyond faith: helping, listening, solidarity. Mother Teresa will remain unforgotten and be an example after her death.
No doubt WE ALL think of her when considering issues such as solidarity, kindness and commitment to with human suffering. Great choice ALE to pick such a "holy" character to discuss about.
she´s one of the most well-known persons in history because she was interested in helping people since she was very little "At the age of 12 she decided that she wanted to lead a life as a nun." This fact is one of the most surprising ones... when I had 12 I just thought of playing with friends and being with my family.. nothing to do with practizeing charity. She didn´t pay attention to material things and enjoyed her time carring ill people( for example with lepra)without thinking that they could transmit illneses to her... It would be good to read this facts regulary, just to appreciate what we have and try to help others beginning with little things...
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