Mother Teresa

Saint Teresa of Calcutta, born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje (then in the Ottoman Empire), was raised in a devout Catholic Albanian family and felt an early desire to give her life to God. At eighteen she left home for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto, and soon after was sent to India, where she taught for many years in Calcutta and eventually became a headmistress. Yet the suffering around her—poverty, famine, and violence—pressed upon her heart. In 1946 she experienced what she called a “call within a call,” urging her to leave the convent school and live among the poor for Jesus. After basic medical training and years of humble beginnings, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, dedicated to wholehearted service of “the poorest of the poor.” Her congregation spread worldwide, caring for the sick, the dying, and the forgotten, and her witness inspired countless souls. She is venerated as a saint for her radical charity and steadfast faith, and is patroness of Colli al Metauro and Serrungarina. Her feast day is September 5.