Biography

           For brief biographical material on Mother Teresa see the following Web pages:

Mother Teresa her life. A short biographical text divided under the following headings: Youth; The Call; Sister and teacher; The second call; Decision; A touching moment; The mission; Successor. (no longer available)

Saint Anthony Messenger has a biographical article called Who Was Mother Teresa? - excerpted from A Retreat With Mother Teresa and Damien of Molokai: Caring for Those Who Suffer, by Joan Guntzelman

Quotations about Mother Teresa

"There is always the danger of romanticizing a person like Mother Teresa. What is unique about her is that in a world so conscious of image, of appearance, she was precisely what one saw. Her retreat from public gaze was always to one of the far-flung houses of her religious community. She would take her place with her sisters in their chapel, barefoot, to spend hours in prayer. Wherever she was, in Calcutta, Rome, Albania, Haiti, Dorchester, she could look at the crucifix and be reminded of the omnipresent words of Jesus cut out and attached to the wall: "I thirst." " -- Cardinal Law - Archdiocese of Boston in "I thirst" had a special meaning for Mother Teresa

"Mother Teresa has marked the history of our century: she defended life bravely; she served all human beings, always promoting their dignity and respect; she made the 'losers of life' feel the tenderness of God, loving Father of all his creatures. She bore witness to the Gospel of charity, which is nourished by the free giving of the self until death. This is how we remember her, invoking for her the prize that awaits all the faithful servants of the Kingdom of God. May her shining example of charity serve as a consolation and stimulus for her spiritual family, for the Church and for all of humanity." -- John Paul II the day after Mother Teresa's death

"Until the moment of her death in Calcutta, India, on Friday, Mother Teresa was engaged in a gentle but relentless crusade. Hers was a powerful personality, bent on overcoming any obstacle that impeded her work. One could only sympathize with the squirming Lebanese bureaucrat who failed to dissuade her from visiting a dangerous section of Beirut several years ago, or even with the Indian doctors who persuaded her to undergo just one more surgical procedure late last year. While children were always delighted to be around Mother Teresa (and she was equally content to mug and play with them), many world leaders- including heads of state and not a few Catholic bishops- quailed at her approach. They knew that she would not flatter them and that she might ask embarrassing questions. Her requests for their help with her charitable projects were invariably polite and respectful, but they were demanding. Give until it hurts, she would cheerfully suggest. " -- By Philip Lawler: Mother Teresa remembered for charity



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Quotations from Mother Teresa

"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." -- Excerpt from the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Mother Teresa Winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Peace

"Do we really know our poor? Do we really know the poor in our own house, in our own family? Maybe we are not hungry for a piece of bread. Maybe our children, our husband, our wife, are not hungry, are not naked, are not homeless, but are you sure that there is no one there who feels, unwanted, unloved? Where are your old father and mother? Where are they?...Let us look straight into our own families, for love begins at home. Do we really understand the poverty of Christ, the poverty of our poor in our own home, in our own communities? Never turn your back to the poor. For in turning your back to the poor you are turning it to Jesus Christ" -- from the 1979 Franciscan Communications video Everyone, Everywhere - quoted in Mother Teresa The Poor in Our Own Homes

"I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?" -- 1974 interview. - CNN - Mother Teresa Angel of Mercy

"Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. -- Prayer of Mother Teresa - From the video Everyone, Everywhere

As God is in each one of us, when we want and try to live according to His example of love, we love Him in the others and at the same time we allow Him to love others through us. We are his hands, his feet, his smile, his patience... When we love because of His Will, we make God present, we make Him 'touchable' as you could say. We can make His love material. Therefore we have such a high call. Therefor we can be so grateful, therefore we have such a great responsibility." -- quoted in Mother Teresa.

"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.'" -- Quoted as telling Prince Michael of Greece in 1996. - CNN - Mother Teresa Angel of Mercy

Resources on Mother Teresa

           Most of the links on Mother Teresa given above as well as several others can be found on one of the pages of my Web site.

For an excellent source of information on Mother Teresa's life, work and thoughts see the following site: