Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Macedonia. She joined the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland when she was eighteen. Mother Teresa completed her religious training in Darjeeling, India and then was sent to teach at a school for girls in Calcutta in 1929. In 1946, on a train to Darjeeling, she received her true calling from God to help take care of the poor, the dying, the sick and the homeless. Mother Teresa immediately asked permission to leave the order of the Sisters of Loreto. This life changing event was the beginning of the Missionaries of Charity order which she founded. She spent the rest of her life along with the other nuns of her order taking the sick and the dying off the streets of Calcutta and into her shelters. She wanted to provide an atmosphere of love and kindness for those who were dying and helped to find jobs for those who became well.

Mother Teresa established the first orphanage of the Missionaries of Charity in 1953 and began working with lepers in 1957. Since the beginning of her work, hundreds of her homes have been established in locations all over the world. Mother Teresa is an example of a disciple accepting the will of God and wholeheartedly embracing the call to service of humanity.

Mother Teresa saw God in all her fellow beings.

I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper’s wounds,
I feel I am nursing the Lord Himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?

She believed that by loving those around us, we are loving God, himself.

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.
It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.
There is nothing small. The moment we have given it to God, it
becomes infinite.

Mother Teresa was not concerned for the comforts of the material world. Her path was selfless service. She did not wish to be the center of attention. Her attention was focused on God alone.

Mother Teresa didn’t believe that everyone had to give up their station in life and become a missionary like she did. She believed we could all do the will of God in our own backyard.

You have to be holy in your position as you are, and I have to be
holy in the position God has put me. So it is nothing extraordinary
to be holy. Holiness is a simple duty for you and me. We have been
created for that.

We each have our own mission to fulfill for God and the only requirement is to be humble in the doing of it.