Mother Teresa has once again made headlines after the Catholic pope, Pope Francis, made her a saint, nearly ten years after her death.
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun, who devoted her life to helping the poor in India. Born in 1910 in Skopje, then part of the Kosovo Vilayet, Teresa lived the majority of her life in Kolkata (Calcutta), India.
In the 50s, she sought the Vatican’s permission to start what would become known as the Missionaries of Charity. The congregation ran homes for those dying from HIV and AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; orphanages; schools; children’s and family counselling programmes.
Alongside her work in India, Mother Teresa also rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital during the Palestine/Israeli conflict; helped feed the hungry in Ethiopia; and aided those injured and suffering after earthquakes in Armenia and the Chernobyl explosion.
In 1962, Mother Teresa was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and in 1979, she was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
Teresa died on 5th September 1997 after multiple heart complications and ill health.
“Do ordinary things with extraordinary love.”
“If I ever become a Saint – I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven – to light the light of those in darkness on earth.”
“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the action that we do.”
“We fear the future, because we are wasting the today.”
“We have been created for greater things, to love and be loved.”
“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.”
“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”
“Live simply so others may simple live.”
“If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”
“Do not wait for leaders, do it alone, person to person.”
“People are unrealistic, illogical and self-centred. Love them anyway.”
“Life is a game, play it.”
“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.”
