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Fellow Pilgrims in Christ,

When the world remembers Mother Teresa—now Saint Teresa of Calcutta—it sees a small woman in a white sari trimmed with blue, bending low to cradle the dying, feed the hungry, and comfort the abandoned. Yet behind this image lies a remarkable story of courage, faith, and hidden sanctity.

Born in 1910 as Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire, she grew up in an Albanian Catholic family deeply devoted to prayer and service. By 18, she felt called to religious life and left home for Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto. Soon after, she traveled to India, where she began her vocation as a teacher in Calcutta. For nearly two decades, she taught young girls, guiding them with faith and discipline.

But in 1946, during a train ride to Darjeeling, she experienced what she called a “call within a call”—a divine summons to leave the safety of the convent and live among the poor. She later said: “I was to quench the thirst of Jesus by serving Him in the poorest of the poor.”

In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity. Their mission was simple yet radical: to see and serve Christ in “the least of these.” Her sisters wore a plain cotton sari as a sign of solidarity with India’s poor. They opened homes for the dying, orphanages for children, and leprosy centers where those shunned by society could be embraced with dignity.

Mother Teresa’s work was not glamorous. It was messy, hidden, and sometimes misunderstood. Yet her tireless love spoke louder than words. When she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she refused the customary banquet, asking instead that the funds be given to the hungry.

What many did not know during her lifetime was that for decades she endured profound spiritual darkness. Her letters revealed a painful absence of God’s felt presence. Yet instead of despairing, she chose to love Christ all the more, clinging to Him in pure faith. In this, she joined the company of saints like John of the Cross and Thérèse of Lisieux, who also walked through the “dark night of the soul.”

Her perseverance shows us that holiness is not measured by feelings, but by fidelity. In her hidden suffering, she became a living witness to Jesus’ cry from the Cross: “I thirst.”

Mother Teresa died in 1997 in Calcutta. The world mourned, but the poor had lost their greatest earthly advocate. In 2016, Pope Francis declared her a saint, reminding the Church that she “made herself available to everyone by welcoming and defending human life, especially the unborn, the sick, the abandoned, and the poorest of the poor.”

Today, her Missionaries of Charity continue their work worldwide, in over 130 countries. Her life is a reminder that true greatness is found not in power or possessions but in humility and love.

Saint Teresa of Calcutta speaks to every Christian heart. She reminds us that holiness is possible in small daily acts—an extra smile, a patient word, a hidden sacrifice. Her words echo as both comfort and challenge: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

May her example inspire us to stoop low, to see Christ in every suffering neighbor, and to serve with joy. For in the end, it is love alone that will remain.