500+ Words Essay on Mother Teresa in English
Mother Teresa was an independent personality who believed in changing the world by following the path of God. She was born on 26th August 1910 in the city of Skopje (which the largest city of North Macedonia). The real name of Mother Teresa was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was a heroine who dedicated her entire life in assisting the poor people of India.
Mother Teresa’s Family
Mother Teresa belonged to Roman Catholic. Her family called her Gonxha, that means flower bud or little bud in Albanian. She had an elder brother whose name was Lazar and an elder sister with a name- Aga.
Nikola Bojaxhiu was her father, who was a successful building contractor and also a merchant who travelled Europe all around. Dranafile Bojaxhiu was her mother who worked as a traditional Albanian housewife who spent her life just by cooking, cleaning, mending, and caring for her children and spouse.
Her father took care of a local church along with city politics. When the Mother Teresa was just eight years old, his father died suddenly due to serve ill. Until today, the cause of his death is uncertain, but it is believed that his death was due to poison given by the political enemies.
After the death of her father, Mother Teresa became very close to her mother. Her mother insisted her to charity and helped others through his life. Even though they were not rich at that time, but still, her mother sent an open invitation to the people of her area to dine with her family.
Her mother also taught to her children that “No one will eat a single mouthful unless they share with others.” When Mother Teresa asked her mother that who were those people who came for dining, then she replied uniformly that “Some were our relatives. However, all were our people”.
Mother Teresa’s Education and Nunhood
Agnes or Mother Teresa first studied in a convent-run primary school and then in a state-run secondary school. She always sang in the local Sacred Heart choir and often liked to sing solos. At the age of 12, she realized deeply about religious life when she attended a congregation organized in the church of the Black Madonna in Lettice.
When she turned 18 years old, she decided to become a nun and also decided to move to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin. Once she reached there, she got the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Then, Sister Mary Teresa (Mother Teresa) went to Darjeeling for the novitiate period. In the year 1931, Sister Mary Teresa made her first profession of vows. Then she called to Calcutta (Kolkata) to teach at Saint Mary’s High School for Girls.
That school was run by the Loreto Sisters where only most impoverished Bengali families are invited to study. Since she was well aware of both Hindi and Bengali languages, she was assigned to teach history and geography. She explained them thoroughly; thereby, they can alleviate their poverty through education.
On 24th May 1937, Sister Mary adopted her final profession of vows to a life of chastity, obedience, and poverty. Since she was holding the tradition for Loreto nuns, she honoured with the title of ‘Mother’ once she took her final vows, hence, became called as Mother Teresa.
During adopting the final profession of vows, she had been in her teaching profession at Saint Mary’s school. In the year 1944, Mother Teresa became the principal of the same school. Through her infinite kindness and uninterrupted ambitions to her student’s education, she became able to adopt them the life of devotion to Christ.
“Give me the strength to be ever the light of their lives, so that I may lead them at last to you” was the famous line wrote by her.
Transforming point of Mother Teresa’s life
On 10th September 1946, when she was travelling in a train, she got a call from Calcutta to teach city’s sickest and poorest people, but she didn’t grant the offer as she could not be supposed to leave her convent without getting official permission.
When she wanted to get a grant to teach Calcutta’s most impoverished and sickest people, she finally got a grant in January 1948 to pursue this new calling.
In August of the same year, she put on the blue and white sari that she also adopted in her rest of life. At that time, she left the Loreto convent and also wandered out into the city.
Moreover, she also spent the six months of that time to travel in Calcutta’s slums with an ambitious of serving the unwanted, the uncared, and the unloved people.
Death of Mother Teresa
On 5th September 1997, Mother Teresa was died at the age of 87 due to diseases like lung, heart, and kidney. After her death, the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity numbered 3,914 members were created in 594 communities in 123 countries across the world.
Further, this order has increased to 4,000 members in 697 foundations in 131 countries around the globe. The fact, her work is continuing under the supervision of Sr. M Prema, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity Sisters.
Awards Received by Mother Teresa
The fact, Mother Teresa received 124 awards in her life. Some of them are mentioned below:
- Padma Shri Award (from the President of India) August 1962
- Pope John XXIII Peace Prize January 1971
- John F. Kennedy International Award September 1971
- Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding November 1972
- Templeton Prize for “Progress in Religion” April 1973
- Nobel Peace Prize December 1979
- Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) March 1980
- Order of Merit (from Queen Elizabeth) November 1983
- Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee August 1987
- The United States Congressional Gold Medal in June 1997
Famous Quotes are written by Mother Teresa
- “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.”
- “We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.”
- “A warm smile is a universal language of kindness.”
- “Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
Conclusion
She had worked courageously despite her old age and fragile appearance. She had proved that a hero doesn’t need any physical strength and powers to survive and assist others. She did many accomplishments without getting a step back. She gave an example of how a single person can make a difference. Indian people should try to live their life like Mother Teresa.
Leave a Reply