Saturday, January 26, 2008
“I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.” Mother TeresaCity of despair, was ruled by unwelcoming darkness. People old and young had forgotten the art of smile until a shimmering light with cold breeze of love taught the art of a loving smile. She wasn't a powerful woman who could change the destiny, but a feeble mother who could make her children's path easy to reach the destiny together. The destiny of world peace, unconditional love and unfailing kindness. She was the mother, a saint of loving kindness. She was Mother Teresa. The Indian treasure though lost, breathes in every Indian heart. Uncover the life or biography of the saintly woman whose courage and the will to change the socialistic rule made a history in the world.
The childhood with drifted edge of huge loss
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) was born on August 26, 1910 in capital of Republic of Macedonia, Skopje. Five children were born to Nikola and Dronda Bojaxhiu, yet only three survived. Agnes, was the youngest, with an older sister, Aga, and brother, Lazar. Nikola devoted most of his time to politics and Albanian cause. One of her biography states that after a political meeting he fell ill and died. His death left the family in financial straits. At that time little Agnes was just seven years old However Drane, didn't let the sad demise affect her children's growth as an individual with a fine etched character.
The religious call
During Agnes, early years she was fascinated by stories of the lives of missionaries and their service to mankind. So, at the age of twelve, she decided to commit herself to the religious life. At the age of 18 she joined the Sisters Of Loreto (an Irish community of nuns with missions in India) as a missionary to walk a divine lonely path without any trails of her family or friends. She took her first vows as a nun on 24 May 1931. It is here she received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux. In December, she departed for India. She began her novitiate in Darjeeling, near the Himalayan mountains. After 6 years she took her solemn vows on 14 May 1937, while serving as a teacher at the Loreto convent school in eastern Calcutta.
In Calcutta, Sister Mary Teresa began her career, by teaching history and geography, which she reportedly did with dedication and enjoyment for the next 15 years. During this period she developed and grew to a finer being with saintly characters. The simple and dedicated life paved her a path to hear and do the will of her second calling
Th call within the call
Mother Teresa heard the God's call for a divine service on a fateful day in 1946 when she traveled for a retreat to Darjeeling. On that day she heard Jesus' thirst for a divine service of love for the poor and for the souls that were detested at the very sight. His thirst became the driving force of her life. He called her ' Come bare my light of love'. She succumbed to His will without a second taught. After two years testing and discernment passed before Mother Teresa received permission to begin, 'The Missionaries Of Charity” dedicated to the service of the poorest of the poor. On August 17, 1948, she cladded her small body in a white, blue-bordered sari for the first time and bid adieu to the world of Loreto convent to enter the world of the lowly poor on the dirty streets and broken slums of India.
Her venture into the hearts of unwanted
After completing basic course with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna, Mother Teresa returned to Calcutta and found temporary lodging with the Little Sisters of the Poor. In her diary she writes of her initial struggle. Rad it in her own words, “While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health. Then the comfort of Loreto [her former order] came to tempt me. 'You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again,' the Tempter kept on saying ... Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard. I did not let a single tear come” With courage and the help of her only teammate then 'Christ', she ventured into the slums. She visited distorted families, washed their ugly sores and healed their heart overwhelming with pain and agony. Her two famous historic stories of love were that of an old man lying sick on the road and nursing of a woman dying of hunger and TB. Although the path began with just two in the beginning within a short span she was joined one by one by her former students. Thus began the saga of serving, “ the unwanted, the unloved and the uncared”. Her efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials, including the Prime Minister, who expressed his appreciation . Today Mother Teresa's dream is looked after more than 4,000 nuns, who run orphanages, AIDS hospices, and charity centers worldwide. They even carefor refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless, and victims of floods, epidemics, and famine.
On 7 October 1950 the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. By the early 1960s, Mother Teresa began to send her Sisters to other parts of India. Soon her foundations followed in Rome and Tanzania and, eventually, on every continent. The world eventually started tracking her every work. Numerous awards started showering on her beginning with the Indian Padmashri Award in 1962 and notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
She ends her earthly journey to reunite with her master
Despite her severe health problems Mother Teresa continued to govern her Society with due response to every cry of need by the poor. After meeting Pope John Paul II for the last time, she returned to Calcutta and spent her final weeks receiving visitors and instructing her Sisters. On 5th September 1997, she breathed her last with a deeper quest of search of her master. She was given the honour of a state funeral by the Government of India and her body was buried in the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. Her tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for people of all faiths, rich and poor alike.
The mother of every wounded soul testified a life of unshakable faith, invincible hope and extraordinary charity. Her response to God's calling made her a symbol of compassion to the world, and a living witness to the thirsting love of God. Her loss did make many hearts weep. However her life made several hearts cling to the work of love. So the next time you pass a wounded stranger do remember her quotes,
“I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God. “
“It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted. “
Let the love she sowed in the world reap great thing today and forever.
source: living.oneindia.in
