Sep 05: French President Jacques Chirac said after her death: "This evening, there is less love, less compassion, less light in the world."
Ten years ago on this day, Mother Teresa, the saint of gutter left this world. She began her journey from Albania to India after realizing that God wants her to serve the people, who are poor and neglected by their relatives and loved ones. She would feel extreme pleasure in serving those people as she is serving to God.
Born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on Aug 26, 1910, in Albania, she had left home to join other nuns in Kolkata. She became Sister Teresa, and spent 17 years in teaching. She was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was sent to Darjeeling for rehabilitation and during her journey she heard the message of God to serve poor and follow them to slums. After getting permission from Pope Pius xii, she went for a medical training to prepare herself for the new mission. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity for the destitute and become Mother Teresa, followed by establishing ‘Nirmal Hridaya’, a Charity Missionaries for dying destitute.
She served the destitute and helpless with full devotion and eternal spirit. Her services to the unwanted, leprosy patients, AIDS patients, and orphans got appreciation her and she won Noble Peace Prize for her endeavour. While receiving the Noble prize in 1979, mother expressed, “I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive the Nobel in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."
She travelled world wide to unite the world. Once she said, "The other day I dreamed that I was at the gates of heaven....And St. Peter said, ‘Go back to Earth’, there are no slums up here.”
People from different faith gathered in different parts of the world to remember her every year.
Her tomb at the Missionary of Charity was flocked by different section of society.
"Our expectation is that she be soon declared a saint because she was living as a saint and she lives as a saint in heaven," said Lucus Sircar city’s archbishop during the prayer.
Mother Teresa was beatified in 2003 by Pope John Paul II and millions of people want her to be elevated to sainthood.
Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, author of the book on mother Teresa-‘ Come be my light: The private writings of the Saint of Calcutta’ explained that the book was a commentary on what he called. Mother Teresa's mission statement: “if I ever become a saint I will be a saint of darkness, I'll be absent from heaven, lighting the light of those in darkness on earth".
The book that is claiming that she had a crisis of faith may prove menace to her recognition as saint. But the author believes that this book in no way will jeopardize her elevation to sainthood.
In 1990 she wanted to take retirement and said “God will find another person, more humble, more devoted, more obedient to her, and the society will go on."
But the people she left behind, still misses the ray of light which changed their lives forever….She remains in the heart of millions as a saint who accepted what others rejected…
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