St. Teresa of Calcutta was Albanian and born on 26 August 1910 in Skopje in present day North Macedonia and began life named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She became interested in missionary work at a very early age and when she was18 she travelled to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto. Here she learnt English. In 1929 she travelled to India and worked in a school in Darjeeling. In 1946 she followed orders to live and work with the poor. Although she experienced great hardship, she decided that her life needed to be dedicated to looking after the poorest of the poor. In 1948 she set out in a simple whit sari with a blue border. In 1950 she set up the sisters of Charity which now manages homes for people who are dying. It runs soup kitchens, mobile clinics counselling programmes, orphanages and schools. Members of the congregation vow to give “wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.” She died on 5 September 1997. At that time the Sisters of Charity had 610 missions working in 123 countries. Mother Teresa was proclaimed a saint on 4 September 2016.
Prayer: St Teresa of Calcutta
Dear Lord,
As we reflect on the life of Mother Teresa let us pray for the poorest of the poor so that they will find peace and ultimately have a beautiful death. Let us pray that there will always be people who hear your call and look after those who have been forgotten by the rest of society.
We ask this through Christ our Lord
Amen
Mother Teresa, pray for us.