Mother Theresa Research Paper
Jessica Post Post 1
Writing Class
Kim Price
March 25, 2003
Mother Teresa
"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."
She dedicated her life serving the poor; she loved the unloved, cared for the un-cared, helped the dying, the cripple and the mentally ill. She served everyone with her love and the love of God; because of her love and commitment to God, she touched the hearts of those who doubted her.
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa, was born on August 27, 1910, in Skopje, Yugoslavia where she attended school. When she was a member of a school sodality that focused on foreign missions, she first showed religious interest. Her father was murdered when she was seven and chose emigration over political activism. When she was ten years old, she felt that she had a calling to help the poor. During her teen years, she was interested in the reports of work being done in India where Yugoslav Jesuit Missionaries who were serving in Bengal. When she turned eighteen, she left home to join Irish nuns, the Sister of Loretto, who had a mission in Calcutta, India. Mother Teresa took her first vows in 1928, and nine years later she took her final vows.
Her first assignment was teaching high school girls in Calcutta. Then in 1946, she experienced a second vocation. She wanted to work directly with the poor so she wanted permission from the Vatican to leave the Sisters of Loretto and work under the Archbishop of Calcutta. She first taught the unschooled children from the ghetto. She caught the eyes of both the financial supporters and volunteers and formed a group called Missionaries of Charity, in 1950.
According to the article, Mother Teresa-Biography, "Mother Teresa has fifty relief projects operating in India: these compromise work among slum-dwellers, children's homes, homes for the dying, clinics and a leper colony"(Nobel-Mother). Her work brought attention from the whole world, and she received a lot of awards.
After Mother Teresa received her Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she presented her Nobel Lecture. She told everyone about her beliefs and told many stories about her experience through out the world:
And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something. So you pray for our Sisters and for me and out Brothers, and for our Co-Workers that are around the world. (Nobel Foundation 5)
Mother Teresa's health problems became active in the '80s and '90s. In 1983 she visited Pope John Paul II and she suffered a heart attack. She began wearing a pacemaker in 1989 after having a fatal heart attack. The world prayed for Mother Teresa's recovery after suffering from a heart failure and malaria. While she was in the hospital, she wanted to have communion and wanted to go home. According to the Biography Resource Center, a doctor said, " she firmly believed, 'God will take care of me'"(Biography 3).
She died shortly after her 87th birthday of a heart attack on September 5, 1997. After her loss, the whole world was saddened. A mourner said, "It was Mother herself who poor people respected. When they bury her, we will have lost something that cannot be replaced" (Biography 3).
Mother Teresa was a unique person who stood out from the crowd. A lot of people admired her like the former President, Bill Clinton, "has served the poor, the suffering and the dying, and in so doing she served as an inspiration and a challenge to all the rest of us"(2 Gjoni 1). There were 15000 seats at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, where Mother Teresa's funeral was held. Most of those seats were reserved for the people she served in the past. "Mother Teresa will continue to live in the hearts of all those who have been touched by her selfless work, (2 Gjoni 2)" says Queen Elizabeth II.
Narrative Essay
Expository Essay
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