Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia. When she was 18, she became part of Ireland's Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto. She trained in Dublin, Ireland and Darjiling, India.
Agnes took her vows to become a nun in 1937, the vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and service to the poor. She also decided that her name would be Theresa after the patron saint of foreign missionaries, Saint Theresa of Lisieux.
Mother Theresa worked as a principal at a high school in Kolkota, but the sight of the sick and dying in the streets made her change her mind of what to do. In 1948, she was allowed to leave her office to help the sick. In 1950, she and her helpers formed the Missionaries of Charity and Mother Theresa was the leader.
In 1952, Mother Theresa established in Kolkota the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday) Home for Dying Desititutes and in 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her accomplishments.
In 1990, Mother Theresa's health was declining and she had to cut back on her activities. However, a book of her quotations and anecdotes Mother Theresa: In My Own Words was published. A year later, she chose Sister Nirmala to be the next leader of the Missionaries of Charity. She died on September 5, 1997.
