In
the third country of India in a remote place called Calcutta,inside a
special place there lies a body of one of greatest woman India and
the world in general,probably awaiting the trumpet call of her master
whom she followed His worlds recorded in the holy Bible;”I was
hungry and you feed me ,naked and you closed me .......”(Mathew
25:34)This is no other but the late Mother Teresa,a nun who
dedicated all her life for God and the poor of the world. Born in
prosperous country of Eastern Europe,educated in a rich country of
western Europe she selflessly decided to live with the poverty
stricken citizen of India. Probably we are encountering the greatest
woman of the century-mother Teresa of Calcutta.....!
Her
real name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu,she was born on August 27,1910
in Skopje,Macedonia-Yugoslavia. She was a daugheter of an Albanian
grocer. When she was 12 she was quite sure she was going to become a
nun (How many of our children are career).In 1928,she went to
Ireland to join the institute of the missionary of the blessed
Virgin,sailing,only six week later,to India as a teacher. She
subsequently requested permission to work with the poor of Calcutta.
After
studying nursing. Mother Teresa moved in to the slum .Municipal
authorities,upon her petition,gave her the pilgrim hostel near the
sacred kali's temple where by in 1948 she founded the order of the
Missionaries of charity -A Roman catholic congregation of women
dedicated to poor,particularly to the destitute of
India.Sympathetic companion soon flocked to her aid. Dispensaries and
outdoor school were organized.
Mother
Teresa adopted Indian citizenship,and her Indian nuns all donned the
sari as their habit. In 1950 her Order received a canonical sanction
from Pope Pius XII and in 1965 it become a pontifical
congregation(subjected only to the Pope).The Order opened numerous
centers serving the blind,aged,lepers,cripples and the dying.Under
her care/guidance,the Missionaries of Charity bult near
Ansanson,India, a leper colony called Shanti Nager “Town Of
Peace”.
In 1963 the Indian government awarded her the Padmashri ''Lord Of the Lotus'' for her service to the people of India and in 1964 on his trip to India Pope Paul VI gave her ceremonial limousine which she immediately ruffled to help finance her leper colony 1968 she was summoned to Rome to found a home thee,stuffed primarily with Indians nuns followed with the Nehru award in 1969.In recognition to her apostolate,she was honored on 6,January1971 by Pope Paul,who awarded her First Pope John XXIII Peace Prize.
In
the late 1970s
the missionaries of
charity numbered more than 1,000 nuns who operated 60 centers in
Calcutta and more than 200 worldwide centers including in
Tanzania,Great Britain,Australia,Venezuela,Jordan and Sri-lanka. By
1970 her foundation in Calcutta alone saved nearly 8,000 destitute
outcast from death. It was not surprising when she become the
recipient of the greatest world award the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
How
did she view herself? As most celebrities are,she did not give credit
to her personality but to her poor people. When asked if she`ll turn
up any antidote,any legend she replied “NO” and went futher
“...there are no legends..”Her greatest secret was “Service/work
for the poorest of poor”.This is an extraordinary woman,whose life
was a living prayer,she had no biological children yet milions call
her mother,mother. Here are some of her motherly heritage-words to
us;
“I
want very much people to come to God...I hope I am converting....I
cannot give the light:I can only give the means..”
“...what
we allow God to use far,that is important. What He is doing through
us is important-poverty is nothing but freedom and the total
surrender is obedience..”
“...The
poor must know that we love them,that they are wanted. They
themselves have nothing to give but love...true love always has hurt.
It must be painful to love someone,painful to leave them,you might to
die for them”
“Death
is nothing but the completion of life,every religion has got
eternity..”
“We
help the poor die with God. We help them to say sorry to God. It is
between them and God alone. Nobody else,Nobody has the right to come
at that time. We must help them to make piece with God because that
is the greatest need-to die in peace with God. We live that they die
so that they may go home according to what is written in the book,be
it written according to Hindu, or Muslim ,or Buddist,or Catholic, or
Protestant, or any other belief...”
“The
healthy person maybe closer to dying or even more dead , the person
who is dying. They might be spiritually dead,only it doesn't show.
Who are we to judge....where there is mystery,there must be faith.
Faith,you cant change no matter how you look at it. Either you have
it or you don't. For us it is very simple because our feet are on the
ground. We have more of the living reality”
“Cleanness
of heart means openness,that complete freedom,that detachment that
allows you to love God without hindrance,without obstacles....poverty
is such a wonderful gift of God....it gives us detachment and the
real freedom necessary to understand the very poor people....”
“You
should spend at least half an hour in the morning and hour at night
in prayer. You can pray while you work. Work doesn't stop prayer and
prayers doesn't stop work. It requires only that small raising of
mind to Him, “I love you, God I trust you,I believe in You,I need
you now” .Small things like that. They are wonderful prayers.
That
was mother Teresa of Calcutta,a leader of “Carriers Of God's Love”
whose dowry was/is poverty,she lived the truth that prayer is
devotion,prayer is service. Service was her main concern,her
religion,her redemption. To meet her was to feel utterly humble,to
sense the power of tenderness,the strength off love. She is now
laying peaceful and hopeful waiting for the word of master:”...come,O
blessed of My Father,inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food I was
thirsty and you gave Me drink,I was a stranger and you welcomed Me,I
was naked and you clothed Me,I was sick and you visited Me,I was in
prison and you came to Me...”(St Mathew 25:34-36).We need not wait
for a mortal man to declare Mother Teresa a saint,by her fruits we've
known her,she was a living saint and as we say Adios Amigo to our
mama let us join her favorite prayer of St. Francis of Assisi;
Lord
make me an instrument of your peace,
Where
there is hatred,let me sow love
Where
there is injury,pardon
Where
there is doubt,faith
Where
there is despair,hope
Where
there is darkness,light
and
where there is sadness,joy
O
divine Master,grant me that I maynot
So
much seek to be consoled as to console:
To
be understood as to understand
To
be loved as to love
For
it is in giving that we receive:
It
is in pardoning that we are pardoned:
And
it is dying
That
we are born to eternal life.
ADIOS
SAINT AGNESS-MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA.
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1 comment:
nice post. thanks.
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