Discover the life of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Nobel laureate who served the “poorest of the poor” and revealed God’s love in the darkest of places.
Keywords: Saint Mother Teresa, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, Missionaries of Charity, poorest of the poor, Nobel Peace Prize, dark night of the soul, Catholic saints, serving the poor, Mother Teresa quotes, Kolkata
Quick Facts
| Key | Detail |
| Birth | August 26, 1910, in Skopje, Ottoman Empire (as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu) |
| Death | September 5, 1997, in Calcutta (Kolkata), India |
| Feast Day | September 5 |
| Patronage | Missionaries of Charity, World Youth Day (co-patroness), Archdiocese of Calcutta |
| Canonized | September 4, 2016, by Pope Francis in Vatican City |
Historical Context & Early Life
Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910, the future Mother Teresa entered a world of shifting empires and fervent nationalism. Skopje, her birthplace (now the capital of North Macedonia), was a multicultural crossroads within the fading Ottoman Empire. Of Albanian heritage, Anjezë was raised in a devout and loving Catholic family. Her father, a successful businessman involved in local politics, died suddenly when she was just eight, plunging the family into financial hardship.
This loss profoundly shaped her. Her mother, Dranafile, a woman of immense faith and charity, became the central figure in her life. Dranafile instilled in her children a deep sense of duty to the poor, often inviting the destitute of the city to share their meals. She taught Anjezë a lesson that would become the foundation of her life’s work: “My child, never eat a single mouthful unless you are sharing it with others.”
From a young age, Anjezë was fascinated by stories of Catholic missionaries serving in India. By the age of 12, she felt a quiet but firm conviction that God was calling her to a religious life. At 18, she made the decisive choice to leave home and join the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish order with a mission in India. After a brief period in Ireland to learn English, she sailed for India in 1929, a land teeming with ancient culture, deep spirituality, and immense poverty under the British Raj. She would never see her mother or sister again.
Calling & Key Milestones
Upon her arrival in India, she took the name Sister Mary Teresa, after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the patroness of missionaries. For nearly two decades, she served as a teacher and later as principal at a Loreto convent school for girls in Calcutta. She was a joyful and dedicated nun, loved by her students. Yet, behind the convent walls, her heart was increasingly troubled by the extreme poverty and suffering she witnessed in the city’s slums.
The “Call Within a Call”
The turning point came on September 10, 1946. While on a train to Darjeeling for her annual retreat, Sister Teresa experienced what she would later describe as a “call within a call.” It was an unmistakable and life-altering command from Jesus. He asked her to leave the security of the convent and go out into the streets to serve Him in the “poorest of the poor.” Jesus, she said, revealed His pain at the neglect of the poor and His thirst for love from them and from her.
This was not a simple suggestion; it was an order that would require her to step into a radical new way of life. After two years of prayer and seeking permission, she received approval from the Vatican to leave the Loreto order and begin her new mission under the authority of the Archbishop of Calcutta.
Founding the Missionaries of Charity
In August 1948, she walked out of her beloved convent for the last time. She exchanged her traditional Loreto habit for a simple, blue-bordered white cotton sari—the attire of the humblest Indian women. After brief medical training, she started her first school in the slums, gathering children and teaching them to read by writing in the dirt with a stick.
Soon, young women, many of them her former students, were inspired by her example and came to join her. In 1950, the Vatican officially recognized her new community: the Missionaries of Charity. The sisters took the traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, plus a fourth, unique vow: “to give wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.”
Their work was direct, personal, and profound. They opened homes for the dying destitute, plucking people from the gutters so they could experience love and die with dignity. They established orphanages, leprosy clinics, and centers for those suffering from AIDS. Mother Teresa’s philosophy was simple but powerful: to see and serve Jesus in the “distressing disguise of the poor.”
A Global Beacon of Compassion
The small community in Calcutta grew with astonishing speed. By the time of her death, the Missionaries of Charity numbered over 4,000 sisters, with hundreds of foundations in more than 120 countries. Mother Teresa had become a global icon, a living symbol of compassion.
In 1979, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In a move that typified her spirit, she refused the traditional banquet and requested that the funds be given to the poor of Calcutta. Her acceptance speech was a powerful and uncompromising message to the world, in which she famously called abortion “the greatest destroyer of peace today.”
The Dark Night of the Soul
For decades, the world saw Mother Teresa as a woman of unshakable, joy-filled faith. It was only after her death, with the publication of her private letters, that a startling spiritual reality was revealed. For nearly 50 years—from the time she started her work in the slums until her death—she experienced a profound and painful “dark night of the soul.”
This is a term from classic Catholic spirituality for a period of intense spiritual desolation. She felt an absence of God’s presence, a deep sense of spiritual emptiness and loneliness. Yet, this darkness did not cause her to abandon her mission. In an act of heroic faith, she chose to persevere, using her feeling of being unwanted by God to identify more closely with the unwanted of the world. Her continued work was not fueled by feelings of consolation, but by a raw, resolute choice to love and serve God even when she felt nothing in return.
Spiritual Legacy & Theological Themes
Mother Teresa was not an academic theologian, but her life was a powerful form of “lived theology.” Her spiritual legacy is immense and built on several core themes:
- The Thirst of Jesus: The motto of the Missionaries of Charity is the two words Jesus spoke from the cross: “I thirst.” Mother Teresa taught that this was not just a physical thirst, but Jesus’s infinite thirst for love and for souls. The entire mission of her order is to quench this divine thirst by bringing love and compassion to those in whom Jesus is found.
- The Dignity of Every Person: In a world that often measures people by their utility or wealth, Mother Teresa saw infinite value in every single life. By picking up a dying person from the street, bathing them, and giving them a clean bed, she was making a profound statement: “You are a child of God. You matter. You are loved.”
- “Something Beautiful for God”: This was her constant encouragement. She taught that we don’t need to do great things, but rather “small things with great love.” A smile, a kind word, a moment of listening—when done with love, these small acts become “something beautiful for God” and can change the world.
Devotion Today
Saint Mother Teresa is one of the most recognizable and venerated saints of the modern era. The Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata remains a major site of pilgrimage, where people from all faiths come to visit her simple tomb and pray.
Her sisters and brothers continue her work on every continent, living witnesses to her charism. People around the world invoke her as a powerful intercessor for many needs: for help in serving the poor, for strength in times of doubt and spiritual darkness, for a deeper love for the vulnerable, and for families.
A common prayer seeking her intercession:
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, you allowed the thirsting love of Jesus on the Cross to become a living flame within you, and so became the light of His love to all. Obtain from the Heart of Jesus… (here make your request). Teach me to allow Jesus to penetrate and possess my whole being so completely that my life, too, may radiate His light and love to others. Amen.
Reflections for Modern Readers
Mother Teresa’s life offers timeless lessons for our busy, and often self-focused, 21st-century lives.
- Do Small Things with Great Love. You may not be called to open an orphanage, but you are called to love. Her most famous teaching is a liberating reminder that the size of the act doesn’t matter as much as the love put into it. The smile you give a stressed cashier, the patience you show a difficult family member, the time you take to listen to a lonely friend—these are your “small things.”
- Find Your Own Calcutta. Mother Teresa often said, “Calcutta is everywhere.” The “poorest of the poor” are not just those lacking material goods. Poverty can also be spiritual: the loneliness of the elderly in a nursing home, the isolation of a teenager struggling with anxiety, the feeling of being unseen by your own family. Look for the “Calcutta” in your own neighborhood, workplace, and home.
- Persevere When Faith Feels Dry. Her “dark night” is a profound comfort for anyone who has ever felt distant from God. It teaches us that faith is not a feeling; it is a decision. It is the choice to keep showing up, to keep loving, and to keep serving, even when the emotional consolations are gone.
- Love the Unwanted. Our culture often champions success, beauty, and strength. Mother Teresa championed the opposite: the failed, the broken, the weak, and the unborn. Her life challenges us to look for the person everyone else overlooks and to offer them our attention and care, recognizing in them the face of Christ.
Timeline Summary
- 1910: Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu is born in Skopje.
- 1928: Leaves home to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland.
- 1929: Arrives in Calcutta, India, and begins her novitiate.
- 1946: Experiences the “call within a call” on a train to Darjeeling.
- 1948: Leaves the Loreto convent to begin her work in the slums.
- 1950: The Missionaries of Charity are officially established as a religious congregation.
- 1952: Opens the first Home for the Dying in Calcutta.
- 1979: Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1997: Dies in Calcutta at the age of 87.
- 2003: Beatified by Pope John Paul II.
- 2016: Canonized a saint by Pope Francis.
Further Reading & References
- Teresa, Mother, and Brian Kolodiejchuk. Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the Saint of Calcutta. Image, 2009.
- Teresa, Mother. A Simple Path. Ballantine Books, 1995.
- Kolodiejchuk, Brian. “Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), biography.” Vatican.va. The Holy See, 2003.
- Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. Collins, 1971.
- Leo, David. The Missionary of Charity: A Reflection on the Life and Works of Mother Teresa. Paulist Press, 2007.
1. What was Saint Mother Teresa’s birth name?
Her birth name was Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu.
2. What was the unique “fourth vow” taken by the Missionaries of Charity?
Their fourth vow is “to give wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the poor.”
3. What pivotal experience did she have on a train that changed her life’s direction?
She experienced a “call within a call,” an order from Jesus to leave her convent and serve Him directly in the slums among the poorest people.
4. For how long did Mother Teresa experience her “dark night of the soul,” a feeling of spiritual emptiness?
She experienced this profound spiritual trial for nearly 50 years, almost the entire duration of her ministry with the poor.
5. When she won the Nobel Peace Prize, what did she famously identify as the “greatest destroyer of peace”?
In her Nobel lecture, she famously identified abortion as “the greatest destroyer of peace today.”
