The Valiant Woman – St. Teresa of Calcutta

Rebroadcast of the long-running radio program, "The Ave Maria Hour," a presentation of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. www.AtonementFriars.org

The valiant woman who became world-renown as Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Macedonia. At the age of 18, she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland and took the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese of Lisieux. In 1929, she was sent to Calcutta, India to become a teacher. In 1946, Mother Teresa, as she was now called, received inspiration to leave her job as a teacher and minister among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.  She established the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, a community dedicated to that cause. Today their foundations are located all over the world. Mother Teresa received worldwide recognition for her work and, in 1979, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She humbly received awards and accolades "for the glory of God and in the name of the poor."

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003 and canonized by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016.