On Sept. 5, Catholics around the world celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta, popularly known as Mother Teresa, and this year marks 10 years since she was declared a saint by the Catholic Church.
The beloved religious sister was known globally for her work among the poorest of poor in India and for founding the Missionaries of Charity.
Yet behind the familiar image of the saint there are aspects of her life that may not be as well-known — from her childhood in the Balkans and years as a teacher to her surprising friendships and spiritual struggles.
Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta as we celebrate her 10 years as a canonized saint:
1. She wasn’t born in India
Mother Teresa was born Anjezë (Agnes) Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Skopje, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire and is now the capital of North Macedonia. She came from an ethnic Albanian family and was the youngest of five children — two of whom died in infancy.
2. She entered religious life at 18
At age 12, she felt called to serve the poor and at 18, left home to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish order of nuns, with the intention to serve in India. She would never again live with her immediate family.
3. She chose the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Upon her arrival at Rathfarnham Abbey in Ireland, she took the name Teresa after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century French nun known as the “Little Flower” who was known for her simplicity and doing things in her “Little Way.”
4. She was a teacher before she served the poor
Before beginning her work among the poor, Mother Teresa taught in India for nearly two decades. She arrived in Calcutta, India. on Jan. 6, 1929, and after making her first vows in 1931, she was assigned to the Loretto Entally community and taught at St. Mary’s Bengali Medium School for girls. In 1937, Teresa made her final vows as a Loreto nun and then reassumed her duties at the school. In 1944 she became principal of the school.
5. She experienced a ‘call within a call’
On Sept. 10, 1946, Mother Teresa experienced what she would refer to as the “call within a call.” Over the following weeks and months, she would receive inspiration from God asking her to establish a religious community that would serve the poorest of the poor.
6. She didn’t immediately start the religious order
In August of 1948, Teresa left the Loreto convent and went to a short medical training with the Medical Mission Sisters in Patna. In December of the same year, she returned to Calcutta and stayed temporarily with the Little Sisters of the Poor. During this time, she worked in the slums tending to the sick and dying. On Oct. 7, 1950, the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established.
7. She founded branches for men and priests, too
In order to serve the various physical and spiritual needs of the sick, Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity Brothers in 1963 and in 1984 the Missionaries of Charity Fathers. She also created groups for lay people including Co-Workers of Mother Teresa and the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, which were groups of people who shared her spirit of prayer, simplicity, and love for those most in need.
8. She received the Nobel Peace Prize — and rejected the traditional banquet
When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she asked that the money that would have been spent on the customary banquet instead be given to the poor. She also used her Nobel platform to speak about the dignity of human life and the need for the protection of the unborn.
9. She experienced profound spiritual darkness
One of the most surprising aspects of Mother Teresa’s life is that she endured decades of what she described as profound interior darkness. Despite being a woman of deep prayer, her private letters revealed that she sometimes felt distant from God even as she continued serving him.
10. Her congregation spread around the world
Today the Missionaries of Charity have 754 homes in 138 countries around the world and a little over 5,000 nuns serving the poorest of the poor.