Angelic Saint of Calcutta

“I am unworthy” was her humble and spontaneous response when informed that she had been chosen as the recipient of the of the world’s most prestigious award the Nobel prize for peace. On December 10 1979 she accepted the Nobel Prize “In the name of the poor.” In the presence of the king of Norway and a glittering battery of the world’s elite, This angel from Calcutta, stooping low from her life long work of mercy, compassion and charity was given the cheque for Ninety thousand pounds. Speaking on the occasion of this moving ceremony, the chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee, Professor John Sannes said, “the hallmark of her work has been respect for the individual and the individual’s worth and dignity. The loneliest and the most wretched, the dying destitute, the abandoned lepers have been received by her and her sisters with warm compassion, devoid of condescension, based on the reverence for Christ in man. In her eyes the person, who in the accepted sense is the recipient, is also the giver and the one who gives the most. Giving---Giving something of one’s self, is what confers real joy and the person who is allowed to give is the one who receives the most precious gift. Where others see clients or customers, she sees fellow workers, a relationship based not on the expectation of gratitude on the one part, but on mutual understanding and respect and a warm human and enriching contact. That is the life of Mother Teresa and her sisters. A life of strict poverty, and long days and nights of toil. A life that affords little room for other joys but the most precious.”

Mother Teresa has been given many titles such as The Saint of Calcutta, Godmother of the poor, Angel of the slums, and has been showered with accolades, honors, and praise by world leaders and numerous countries of the world. This frail birdlike woman, who never attended any university in her life, has received honorary doctorates from some of the most prestigious universities of the world such as Harvard, Cambridge, San Diego, and Shantineketan. Many world magazines have nominated her “Woman of the year” and she has been presented the key of freedom from cities like Miami, Toledo, New York, Washington, San Francisco, Newark, and San Jose. She was honored by the Indian Govt. with the award of Padma Shri (Order of the Lotus). She has also received the Ramon Magsaysay award from the govt. of the Philippines in 1960 and the Pope John XX111 prize in 1971 and the John Kennedy jr. Foundation award. The highest honor given by the British Monarch, The Order of Merit, was conferred on her by Queen Elizabeth on Nov.24 1983.She was also presented with the First Templeton prize for progress in religion in London on 25th April 1973. Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh speaking on the occasion had said “by any standards what she has done is good, and the world today is desperately in need of this sort of goodness, this sort of practical compassion.” She was selected from over two thousand nominations from eighty countries, her citation read “She has been instrumental in widening and deepening man’s knowledge and love of God and thereby furthering the quest for the quality of life that mirrors the divine.”

Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu known to the world as mother Teresa was born on 26th August 1910 in Skopje Yugoslavia. This part of the world in those times was a part of Albania included in the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Her father was a building contractor and her mother Dranafile Bernai was a native of Venice. It was a small close knit loving family consisting of three sisters and one brother. As a child she was not called Agnes but Gonxha or “Flower Bud” due to her pinkish complexion and plump figure. As a child she had strong religious leanings and attended church quite regularly with her parents. Her mother was called “Nana Loke” Nana meaning mother and loke meaning soul. Her father died suddenly in 1917 and then it was the mother who became the family bread earner by starting a small business of selling embroidered cloth. Life was tough and hardy for the family but the church of sacred heart became a pillar of strength for them. Agnes took part in all the parish activities and spent a lot of time in the church library. She was only twelve years old when she first felt the urge to dedicate her life to God by becoming a nun. Her mother opposed her ambitions considering it just a childish fantasy. It was only in 1925 when Father Jambrenkovic became the pastor that Agnes resolved to fulfil her dream. For a start she joined a society called the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin started by father Jambrenkovic. Working for this society Agnes became fascinated by the stories of the lives of saints and missionaries. The tales she heard from the pastor about the Yugoslav Jesuits who reached Bengal fired her youthful imagination and she recalled later “ They used to give us the most beautiful description about the experiences they had with the people and specially the children in India.” Now she heard about an order of nuns working in Bengal called the Loreto nuns and started dreaming about joining the order and going to Bengal to work for the poor. Even as a student she was meticulous, neat, and disciplined. She abhorred fanaticism and respected all sects and religious persuasions. At the age of 18 Agnes decided to become a nun and to leave home, family and all her loved ones. “I decided to leave home and become a nun. By then I realized my vocation was towards the poor. From then on I have never had the least doubt about my decision. Pointing a finger towards the heavens she mused ‘He made the choice” Her mother now agreed with the idea and supported her daughter totally. She prayed for her daughter’s success and happiness in her chosen mission and advised her “put your hand in his hand and walk all the way with him.” The decision was now final the die was cast. On 26th September 1928 Agnes, along with her mother and sister departed for Zagreb by train. From Zagreb began the long journey to Bengal and Mother Teresa’s tryst with destiny leading to her being hailed as the Angelic Saint of Calcutta.

She spent two months in a convent in Ireland, learnt Basic English and then set sail for Calcutta in November 1928. After the long arduous sea journey she rested just for a few days in Calcutta, and the joined Loreto Novitiate in the shadow of the snow clad Mount Konchenjunga in Darjeeling, to begin her training as a nun. During her two years as a novice Agnes polished her English language skills, learnt Bengali and developed a working knowledge of Hindi. On the 24th of March 1931, Agnes took her first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a sister of Loreto. She now took the name of Teresa from St. Therese of Lisieux and soon became known as “Bengali Teresa” because of her fluency in the Bengali language. Her first missionary job was that of a teacher at the St. Mary’s school in Calcutta. She put in 17 years at this school as a teacher and later on as the school principal. Her favorite subject was world geography, and she taught this subject in school with great enthusiasm but ironically she never left the Indian province of Bengal for over thirty years. She opened her first foreign mission in Venezuela in 1965 and today her empire of mercy and charity is spread over a hundred countries of the world. One of her close associates Sister Francesca once described her as “She is an utterly selfless creature. She is extra ordinary in her sacrifice. She can do anything for the love of God, endure any humiliation or suffering. She was always free of personal bias and did not hesitate to speak out when there was something wrong.”

The turbulent years of the Second World War, the Bengal famine, and the horrible massacres during the communal frenzy of 1946-47, turned Calcutta into a cesspool of poverty, disease, suffering and deprivation. She now decided to leave Loreto convent and do something more constructive and meaningful to bring relief to the poor and starving masses. To provide hope and to bring a smile on the faces of the deprived and diseased. To give dignity and self-respect to the teeming mass of humanity groaning under the burden of poverty and misery. According to Mother Teresa She heard the divine command while on a train journey to Darjeeling on 10th Sept. 1946 “it was an inner command to leave Loreto, and to go and serve the poor in the streets. It was an order. God wanted something from me. He wanted me to be poor and to love him in the distressing disguise of the poorest of the poor.” Before leaving Loreto and starting her own order she had to obtain permission from the head of her own order and from the pope in Rome. This was a formidable and difficult task. She had to plead and beg for her requirement. Finally on 8th August 1948 she received the required permission from the church authorities. First of all for her new order she chose the dress of a white Indian Saree with a blue border. To gain some medical training and rudimentary knowledge of diseases, she enlisted in the hospital of the medical mission sisters in Patna. On 17th of August 1948 she donned the white saree with the blue border and slipped out of the convent at the break of dawn to begin her lifelong work amongst the poorest of the poor. To care for the lepers, the orphans, the destitute, and the outcasts of society.

The Three storied House No. 54A on lower Calcutta road is still the Headquarters of Mother Teresa aptly called “Mother House.” This is where she lived and this has been the nerve center and the hub of all activities connected with her vast empire of mercy, hope and charity. From this humble abode Mother Teresa’s sisters begin their work early morning every day rain or shine, summers or winters. From here these angels of mercy spread out to every nook and corner of the vast city of Calcutta. They travel in pairs proudly wearing their blue bordered white sarees and attend to their daily chores at Kalighat (Home for the terminally ill) leprosy clinics, TB clinics, dispensaries, home for abandoned children ands AIDS centers. The sisters are strictly forbidden to accept any food or drink from anybody during their workday. They usually walk or use public transport and each carries just a plastic water bottle in a cloth bag. They are permitted half an hour lunch break and get back to mother house by 6 PM After a simple meal, prayers and planning session it is bed time by 10 PM. The 300 sisters of Mother House have followed this routine since a very long time. The worldly possessions of each sister are Three white saris, a crucifix, a rosary, a metal plate for food and a thin pallaisse for sleeping. There is only one ceiling fan in the parlor of Mother House, which is switched on only for visitors. There is no TV, radio, fax, gas oven, or electric toaster. Food in the kitchen is cooked on an ancient coal fired stove. It is a truly Spartan and frugal lifestyle, similar to the lifestyle of the majority of the poor in India.

Mother Teresa never asked for donations. She was very determined and strong in her beliefs “Money” she said, “I never give it a thought. It always comes. We do all our work for our lord. He must look after us. If he wants something done, He must provide us with the means. If he does not provide us with the means, then it shows that he does not want that particular work, I forget about it.” She never accepted Govt. funding or even church maintenance, and yet, work continues, with full vigor, in 468 houses of the missionaries of charity around the world. No worker is allowed to raise money for their cause but money continues to pour into their accounts from all over the world. Swiss Bankers, Presidents of Multi National Corporations, Philanthropists, and local millionaires all compete to provide cash and goods for the society. Mother Teresa and her sisters have always been passionately and sincerely dedicated to the service of the poor, without the least expectation of reward or fear of ridicule and rejection. They stand united and resolved in their noble efforts as in the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord make me a channel of thy peace----------
That where there is despair I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows I may bring light
And where there is sadness joy------------
Make us worthy Lord
To serve our fellow men through out the world,
Who live and die in poverty and hunger
Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread
And by our understanding love, give peace and joy.

Mother Teresa Left for her heavenly abode recently. Her funeral was the greatest gathering of world leaders and luminaries in the history of Calcutta.
People traveled from all over the world to pay homage to one of the noblest souls ever to walk the earth. Mother Teresa was a soldier of God and old soldiers never die they just fade away.