Commemorating the ‘Saint of the Gutters’

by Bryan Nicholas

Much has been written about Mother Teresa who has been a controversial figure both during her life and after her death, Widely admired by many for her charitable works, she was also praised and criticized for her anti-abortion views.

The year was 1910, the day August 26, in a little town in Skopje, (the current Capital of the Republic of Macedonia), a girl who was named Agnes Gonhxa Bojaxhiu was born to Albanian parents. She was the girl who was later to become the “Saviour of the Poorest of the Poor” – the woman who has been variously addressed as – ‘The Mother of Mercy” – “India’s Angel of the slums” – “Saint of the Gutters”. Whatever one would refer to her as, she was a woman who experienced God’s call in such an intense and personal way that she took a path that gave up the creature comforts most of us crave for.

At the age of 18 she submitted to the call of God and entered Loretto Convent in Dublin, Ireland. She took her first profession in 1931 and was to be known as Sister Teresa, after her patroness, St. Therese of Lisieux.

As the majority of the Loretto Nuns in Ireland served in India, she too got a teaching assignment in Loretto Convent, Calcutta, and having taken her final profession on May 24, 1937 where she was to be known as Mother Teresa, following Loretto custom.

However, it was on September 10, 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received the “call within a call” which was to give rise to the Order of the Missionaries of Charity. After two years of servicing on the streets of Calcutta, Mother Teresa requested and received Vatican permission to start a diocesan congregation which would officially be erected as a religious institute on October 7, 1950.

She was a living model of humility and love. When she picked up her first inmate on a Calcutta Street, her face half eaten by ants and rats, Mother Teresa said, “it would be like touching the abandoned Christ.”

Honour after honour were showered upon her for her humanitarian services and among the Awards she received was the “Padma Shri” (Lord of the Lotus) conferred in 1962 by the Indian Government, for her commitment to the poor of the slums in Calcutta. This was the first instance this award was given to a non-Indian national.

That same year she was awarded the “Ramon Magsaysay Award” for Peace & International Understanding. This is an annual award made to Asian individuals achieving excellence in their respective fields, and was established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay’s ‘s example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society In commemoration of the 1963 encyclical letter Pacem in terris (Peace on Earth) of Pope John XXIII, the “Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award” was given to Mother Teresa in 1976, to honor her achievements in peace and justice in the world.

In 1969 the Indian Government bestowed on her the “Jawarhalal Nehru Award” for ‘Dedicated Service to Humanity’ and in January 1971 Pope Paul VI awarded her the first “International Pope John XXIII Peace Prize.”

Established in 1972, the Templeton Foundation awarded her the inaugural “Templeton Prize” in 1973 for her extraordinary efforts to help the homeless and neglected children of Calcutta, work which inspired millions of others around the world. This was six years before she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. The prize is awarded to an individual for outstanding contributions in affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works, based on the decision of a panel of distinguished judges from various academic disciplines and religious traditions – Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and atheists.

In 1978 she was the recipient of the “Balzan Prize” for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity among People’s, awarded by the International Balzan Prize Foundation, and in 1979 received the “Patronal Medal ” awarded jointly by The Catholic University of America and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for her distinguished service in the advancement of Marian devotion, theology, and general appreciation of the place of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Catholic Church.”^[

It was in 1979 that Mother Teresa became a household name throughout the world when she was awarded the “Nobel Peace Prize” for her respect for the individual human being, for his or her dignity and innate value. However, she sent word to the organizers that her acceptance of the prize was on the condition that every cent would be spent on the poorest of the poor. She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the cost be diverted to the poor in Calcutta.

She raised eyebrows at the Awards Ceremony held on the December 10, 1979 when she started her acceptance speech with the words – let us pray the prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. She had made sure that a copy of the prayer was placed on the seat of all those present. In fact, her Sisters say this prayer every morning before breakfast. On receiving the Nobel Peace Prize Mother Teresa was asked – “what can we do to promote world peace?” Her answer was simple – “Go home and love your family”

The very next year, in 1980, she was awarded the highest Indian Award – ‘The Bharat Ratna’ and in 1982 conferred with the “Companion of the Order of Australia” which is the highest general award of Australia. In 1983 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II invested her with the highest British Award, the prestigious “Order of Merit”.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by the President of the United States of America for especially meritorious contribution to world peace was made to Mother Teresa in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan. The award is made to individuals selected by the President or recommended to him by the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.

In 1995 she was invested by the Republic of Croatia with “The Grand Order of Queen Jelena“. The Order is named for Croatian Queen Jelena, who ruled during the tenth century and is known as the Mother of the Croatian Kingdom, the Poor and Widowed Mothers.

She was once again honoured by the United States of America in 1997 when she was awarded with the “U.S. Congress Gold Medal” in recognition of her outstanding and enduring contributions through humanitarian and charitable activities, Recipient of the “John F. Kennedy Award” for her untiring and dedicated work towards humanity in 1971, and the “12^th UNESCO Education for Peace Prize” in 1992, and in 1993 received the First “Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award“.

When I met this ‘Mother of Mercy’ when she visited Sri Lanka – the few words exchanged with that wrinkled faced individual known as the ‘Angel of the Slums’ inspired and awed me. Her self determination, her trust in the unfailing providence of God for her work. Awards and publicity meant nothing to her as her parting words to me was – “we don’t’ work for glory or for money, we work for GOD.”

Her work knew no caste, creed, religion, politics or language. It was a complete surrender and dedication to the sole cause of caring for the unwanted, unloved and uncared for in society – the poorest of the poor, as could be witnessed from some incidents in her life which have been overlooked.In 1982, Mother Teresa persuaded Israelis and Palestinians, who were in the midst of a skirmish, to cease fire long enough to rescue 37 mentally handicapped patients from a besieged hospital in Beirut.

When the walls of Eastern Europe collapsed, she expanded her efforts to communist countries that had rejected her, embarking on dozens of projects. Mother Teresa also traveled to help the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her native region and opened a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana, Albania.

During her lifetime and even after her death, Mother Teresa was consistently listed by Gallup’s List of Widely Admired People to be the single most widely admired person. In 1999, she was ranked as the “most admired person of the 20^th century.” Notably, Mother Teresa out-polled all other volunteered answers by a wide margin, and was in first place in all major demographic categories except the very young.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar once said: “She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world.” Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan said that Mother Teresa was “A rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes. Her life-long devotion to the care of the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged was one of the highest examples of service to humanity.”

The process of documenting the life and virtues of a holy man or woman cannot begin until five years after death. This waiting period ensures that the person has an enduring reputation for sanctity among the faithful. However, Pope John Paul II put Mother Teresa on the fast track for Sainthood when he permitted the beatification examination process to begin just two years after her 1997 death, and in 2003, beatified her after the Vatican recognized the healing miracle of an Indian woman’s prayers to Mother Teresa, which caused her brain tumors to disappear.

As we celebrate the life that touched so many hearts of the downtrodden, the sick, the suffering, the destitute, the heart broken – the life of Mother Teresa who returned to her Creator on September 5, 1997 – let us say the prayer of peace that St. Fancis of Assis prayed, the opening prayer of Mother Teresa when she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, 1979, in the Aula of the University of Oslo in Norway :

“Lord, make me a channel of your peace, that where there is hatred, I may bring love; that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness; that where there is discord, I may bring harmony; that where there is error, I may bring truth; that where there is doubt, I may bring faith; that where there is despair, I may bring hope; that where there are shadows, I may bring light; that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted; to understand, than to be understood; to love, than to be loved. For it is by forgetting self, that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying, that one awakens to eternal life. Amen.”