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Who Was Mother Teresa? Mother Teresa was always her own person, startlingly
independent, obedient, yet challenging some preconceived notions and
expectations. Her own life story includes many illustrations of her willingness
to listen to and follow her own conscience, even when it seemed to contradict
what was expected. This strong and independent Slavic woman was born Gonxha
(Agnes) Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Yugoslavia, on August 27, 1910. Five children were
born to Nikola and Dronda Bojaxhiu, yet only three survived. Gonxha was the
youngest, with an older sister, Aga, and brother, Lazar. This brother describes
the family's early years as well-off, not the life of peasants reported
inaccurately by some. We lacked for nothing. In fact, the family lived in one of
the two houses they owned. Nikola was a contractor, working with a partner in a
successful construction business. He was also heavily involved in the politics
of the day. Lazar tells of his father's rather sudden and shocking death, which
may have been due to poisoning because of his political involvement. With this
event, life changed overnight as their mother assumed total responsibility for
the family, Aga, only 14, Lazar, 9, and Gonxha, 7. Though so much of her young
life was centered in the Church, Mother Teresa later revealed that until she
reached 18, she had never thought of being a nun. During her early years,
however, she was fascinated with stories of missionary life and service. She
could locate any number of missions on the map, and tell others of the service
being given in each place. Called to Religious Life At 18, Gonxha decided to
follow the path that seems to have been unconsciously unfolding throughout her
life. She chose the Loreto Sisters of Dublin, missionaries and educators founded
in the 17th century to educate young girls. In 1928, the future Mother Teresa
began her religious life in Ireland, far from her family and the life she'd
known, never seeing her mother again in this life, speaking a language few
understood. During this period a sister novice remembered her as very small,
quiet and shy, and another member of the congregation described her as ordinary.
Mother Teresa herself, even with the later decision to begin her own community
of religious, continued to value her beginnings with the Loreto sisters and to
maintain close ties. Unwavering commitment and self-discipline, always a part of
her life and reinforced in her association with the Loreto sisters, seemed to
stay with her throughout her life.
One year later, in 1929, Gonxha was sent to
Darjeeling to the novitiate of the Sisters of Loreto. In 1931, she made her
first vows there, choosing the name of Teresa, honoring both saints of the same
name, Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux. In keeping with the usual
procedures of the congregation and her deepest desires, it was time for the new
Sister Teresa to begin her years of service to God's people. She was sent to St.
Mary's, a high school for girls in a district of Calcutta. Here she began a
career teaching history and geography, which she reportedly did with dedication
and enjoyment for the next 15 years. It was in the protected environment of this
school for the daughters of the wealthy that Teresa's new vocation developed and
grew. This was the clear message, the invitation to her second calling, that
Teresa heard on that fateful day in 1946 when she traveled to Darjeeling for
retreat. The Streets of Calcutta During the next two years, Teresa pursued every
avenue to follow what she never doubted was the direction God was pointing her.
She was to give up even Loreto where I was very happy and to go out in the
streets. I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to
serve him among the poorest of the poor. Technicalities and practicalities
abounded. She had to be released formally, not from her perpetual vows, but from
living within the convents of the Sisters of Loreto. She had to confront the
Church's resistance to forming new religious communities, and receive permission
from the Archbishop of Calcutta to serve the poor openly on the streets. She had
to figure out how to live and work on the streets, without the safety and
comfort of the convent.
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