Mother Teresa (1910-1997) This image of the bust of Mother Teresa was captured by me at 'Nirmal Hriday' (meaning Pure Heart) one of the Institute run by Mother Teresas' Mission of Charity. It is also called Home for the Dying and Destitutes where people from poor family, physically and mentally ill, aged, handicapped are housed and nursed. Today, our family sponsored the dinner that was served to the inmates ( 400 in number ). About Mother Teresa: Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Yugoslavia. Skopje was a small town with a population of about 25,000. It was then part of the kingdom of Albania, which was a part of the Ottoman Empire. Her father, Nicholas Bojaxhiu, was a building contractor. Her mother, Dranafile Bernai, came from nearby Venice. As a child they called her not Agnes, but Gonxha. It means 'flower bud' in Albanian, for she was pink and plump. Unfortunately, her father passed away around 1918. Her mother brought the children up on her earnings. The Church of the Sacred Heart became an important part of the family's life. Agnes and her sister began to participate in a number of parish activities. Agnes frequently visited the Church library, as she loved books. She was only twelve years old and lived at home with her parents in Skopje when she first felt the desire to become a nun, recalled Mother Teresa It was six years after those first stirrings that Mother Teresa received a "Call" to leave her family and loved ones behind and become a missionary. At 18, she decided to leave home to become a nun. In submission to what quite clearly was God's will, Agnes applied to the Loreto order in Bengal. In November 1928, she set sail for India and arrived at Calcutta (now Kolkata) after seven weeks She was sent to Loreto Convernt. There, For two hours each day, the novices also taught poor children, as on-the-job training. They also had to learn an Indian language. Agnes began to learn Bengali, and picked up a smattering of Hindi as well. On March 24, 1931, Agnes took her first vows, those of poverty, chastity and obedience as a sister of Loreto. Her novitiate completed, Sister Teresa, as she was now called, was sent to teach at St Mary's School She was to remain there for seventeen happy years, first as a teacher and then, from 1937, as Principal of the School. Then she left the convernt "It was an inner command", she said, "to renounce Loreto, where I was very happy, to go to serve the poor in the streets." Mother Teresa has often explained this as a 'Call within a Call'. She was to remain a nun, only the work changed. She sought permission from the Higher Church authorities. She was finally granted permission to leave on August 8, 1948 and left Entally on August 14, the same year. She donned a simple white sari with a blue border and a cross at her shoulder. Hope you like this image. Anyone wanting to save and use this image in any manner is welcome to do so provided they carry the message of charity and respect towards the poor, weak and ill members of our society. Peace!! :O)) SNAKEY