Who Was Mother Theresa
Who Was Mother Teresa? Mother Teresa was always her own person, startlingly independent, obedient, yet challenging some preconceived notions and expectations. Her own life story includes many illustrations of her willingness to listen to and follow her own conscience, even when it seemed to contradict what was expected. This strong and independent Slavic woman was born Gonxha (Agnes) Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Yugoslavia, on August 27, 1910. Five children were born to Nikola and Dronda Bojaxhiu, yet only three survived. Gonxha was the youngest, with an older sister, Aga, and brother, Lazar. This brother describes the family's early years as "well-off," not the life of peasants reported ...
Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers
|
9, and Gonxha, 7. Though so much of her young life was centered in the Church, Mother Teresa later revealed that until she reached 18, she had never thought of being a nun. During her early years, however, she was fascinated with stories of missionary life and service. She could locate any number of missions on the map, and tell others of the service being given in each place. Called to Religious Life At 18, Gonxha decided to follow the path that seems to have been unconsciously unfolding throughout her life. She chose the Loreto Sisters of Dublin, missionaries and educators founded in the 17th century to educate young girls. In 1928, the future Mother Teresa began her religious life in Ireland, far from her family and the life she'd known, never seeing her mother again in this life, speaking a language few understood. During this period a sister novice remembered her as "very small, quiet and shy," and another member of the congregation described her as "ordinary." Mother Teresa ...
Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades.
Already a member? Login
|
Teresa pursued every avenue to follow what she "never doubted" was the direction God was pointing her. She was "to give up even Loreto where I was very happy and to go out in the streets. I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor." Technicalities and practicalities abounded. She had to be released formally, not from her perpetual vows, but from living within the convents of the Sisters of Loreto. She had to confront the Church's resistance to forming new religious communities, and receive permission from the Archbishop of Calcutta to serve the poor openly on the streets. She had to figure out how to live and work on the ...
Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.
|
CITE THIS PAGE:
Who Was Mother Theresa. (2005, January 27). Retrieved November 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Who-Was-Mother-Theresa/21279
"Who Was Mother Theresa." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 27 Jan. 2005. Web. 28 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Who-Was-Mother-Theresa/21279>
"Who Was Mother Theresa." Essayworld.com. January 27, 2005. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Who-Was-Mother-Theresa/21279.
"Who Was Mother Theresa." Essayworld.com. January 27, 2005. Accessed November 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Who-Was-Mother-Theresa/21279.
|