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Mother Teresa, winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize, died last week (Friday) in her convent in India. She was 87.
Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje,
Yugoslavia, she joined the Sisters of Loreto in 1928. She took the name
"Teresa" after St. Teresa of Lesiux, patroness of the Missionaries. In 1948, she came across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta
hospital. She stayed with the woman until she died. From that point on, she
dedicated the majority of her life to helping the poorest of the poor in India, thus
gaining her the name "Saint of the Gutters." She founded an order of nuns
called the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India dedicated to serving the poor.
Almost 50 years later, the Missionaries of Charity have grown from 12 sisters in India to
over 3,000 in 517 missions throughout 100 countries worldwide.
In 1952, she founded the Nirmal Hriday Home for the Dying in
a former temple in Calcutta. It was there that they would care for the dying Indians
that were found on the streets. Mother would see Jesus in everyone that she
met. It didn't matter whether they were dying of AIDS or Leprosy. She wanted
them to be able to die in peace and with dignity. For over 50 years, she worked
selfishly helping the poor. That devotion towards the poor won her respect
throughout the world and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Over the last two decades, Mother had suffered from heart
problems. She suffered a heart attack during a 1983 visit with Pope John Paul
II. She suffered another, and more serious, heart attack in 1989. It was
then that a pacemaker was installed. Just last year, she suffered from malaria and
was treated for a chest infection.
Mother Teresa was a living saint and she will
be greatly missed. Eternal rest grant unto her Lord, and may Perpetual light shine
upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen. |