Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Gonxha gon-KHA flowerbed Gonxha

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Gonxha (gon-KHA) flowerbed

Gonxha • Born August 26, 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia, then Albania (near border of Europe and Asia) • Parents are part of the Roman Catholic Albania minority

Neighbors • Muslim minarets and Christian Orthodox churches are found on cobblestone streets • Bloody transitions of power ruled

Family • • mother Dranafile, called Drana father Nikola sister Aga brother Lazar

Gonxha’s mom, Dranafile • Made sure children attended Mass several times a week (within walking distance) • Enforced family’s daily recitation of the rosary • Considered any moment not dedicated to God to be wasted • Maintained family’s commitment • to the poor, adopted orphans

Gonxha’s dad, Nikola • Owned spacious home and a garden with fruit trees • Extrovert, spoke Albanian, Serbo. Croatian, Turkish, Italian, and French • Wholesaling and contracting business • Spin tales of his travels • Pursue favorite political cause • Generous spirit and tolerance for • all faiths

Gonxha’s brother, Lazar • Described Gonxha as “plump, round and tidy” as well as “a little too serious for her age” • Gonxha helped him steal jam from the cupboard at night • Served in the army of the newly formed monarchy of Albanian • Emigrated to Italy

Gonxha’s sister, Aga • Waved goodbye to Gonxha as her train left Macedonia • Family reputation summed up in this saying, “as generous as the Bojaxhius”

1919 • Father Nikola died perhaps of poison while attending an Albanian patriotic conference in Belgrade, Gonxha was 9 • Business partner attached assets

Mother Drana • Mother Drana supported family selling handmade embroidery for several years, then had a successful carpet business

1919 • • Jesuit priest Father Franjo Jambrekovic arrives in Gonxha’s Sacred Heart Parish Focuses on godly action in everyday life

Jesuit Focus 1. 2. 3. • What am I doing for Jesus? What have I done for Jesus? What will I do for Jesus? Introduced parish girls to the Sodality of the BVM

Father Franjo Jambrekovic • Recounts Croatian Jesuits’ missions in Bengal, India • Visiting missionary fathers would describe their mission in Sandarbans ( where the Indian river Ganges meets the Bay of Bengal)

1928 • After 24 hour meditation, mother Drana gives Gonxha permission to join a religious order • Mother Drana and sister Aga wave goodbye to Gonxha at the train station as she begins her 7 week journey through the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean

Sisters of the Institute of the BVM • Gonxha takes the religious name Teresa when she joins the Sisters of the Institute of the BVM, ‘Loreto Sisters’, WHY, they were active in Bengal, India and Jesuits recommended the order

1929 -1945 • Gonxha who has taken the religious name Teresa after Saint Therese of Lisieux, the 19 th century Carmelite nun who did small tasks with great love for God • Took vows of poverty, chastity, obedience

1942 • She prayed and taught the children of India at the Loretta School • 1942 took vow “to give God anything”

1946 • As headmistress of the Loretta School, Teresa witness the brutality of the Hindu/Muslim riots • On September 10 of 1946 she was sent by train for a retreat in the foothills of Darjeeling

Jesus speaks • During this dramatically scenic train ride she heard the voice of Jesus and spoke with Him.

1946 locution • Locution, verbal expression • Teresa had a lengthy, impassioned dialogue with Jesus in which Jesus tells Teresa to leave the Loretta School and start a new religious order

My little one • Jesus addressed her as “my little one”, she addressed Him as “my own Jesus”

visions • Teresa had 3 visions of Jesus on the cross Ek (meaning ‘one’) – Jesus mother, Mary, supports Teresa while Jesus says, “Will you refuse to do this for me? ”

Missionaries of Charity • Ek -Jesus says, “Carry me into the holes of the poor. I want Indian nuns, Missionaries of Charity, who would be my fire of love among the poor, the sick, the dying, and the little children. ”

visions • Ek – “There are plenty of nuns to look after the rich and well-to-do people”, Jesus responded to her worry about leaving Loreto, “but for my very poor , there absolutely none. For them I long-them I love. Wilt thou refuse? ” *

Inspiration Day • These locutions/visions were known only after her death, they are commemorated every September 10 th as “Inspiration Day”

Petition After her return from the Darjeeling retreat, Teresa petitions the Archdiocese of Calcutta from her Loreto School to form a new order.

Matthew 25: 35 -36 • She quotes Jesus from the book of Matthew 25: 35 -36, “ I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me…”

1947 • Mohandas Gandhi peaceful drive for independence from rule succeeds • To Ghandhi’s dismay Hindus and Muslims divide violently the land, the partition of India and Pakistan results in 1947

1948 Gandhi Dies • January 30, 1948 Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu nationalist • Theresa quotes ‘Gandhiji’, “He who serves the poor serves God. ”

Matthew 25: 35 • Ek – Jesus thirsted humanly on the cross

• Ek – Jesus asks his apostles to alleviate thirst of his beloved poor

• Ek – Christ is “thirsting” for the love of humans

• Ek – Teresa thirsted for Jesus and must give herself entirely to Jesus

Petitioned for 15 months • Archdiocese of Calcutta debated the petition Ek- Was she prepared? Ek- Was it a safe? Ek- Was her vow to be a Loreto to be excused?

Petition granted • Pope Pius XII (12 th) grants permission April 1948 • Missionaries of Charity begin • Sisters would live among the poor, dress like the poor, serve the poorest of the poor

1950 • Vatican permission to start Missionaries of Charity

1952 • Establishes Nirmal Hriday, her first home for the dying in India

1955 • Establishes her first home for the orphans, also in Calcutta

1957 • Begins work with the lepers

1962 • Awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding, given to leaders who address development problems in Asia in creative ways

1965 • Venezuela is first mission house outside of India

1965 • Receives worldwide attention due to Time magazine cover

1971 • Awarded the first Pope John XXII Peace Prize • Awarded the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation Prize

1973 • Templeton Prize for progress in religion

1979 • Accepts Nobel Peace Prize • During her acceptance speech she spoke of Christ dying “ for the poor and leprous as well as the healthy and wealthy. ”

1979 • She cautioned that “ the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct killing, direct murder by the mother herself. ”

1980 • Teresa continues to open missions around the world, though she is criticized for including dictators

1983 • Teresa has a heart attack

1985 • Administers to those with aids

1992 • Meets Princess Diana

March, 1997 • Due to increasingly poor health she steps down from leading the missionaries of charity

September, 1997 • Teresa dies. She is buried at the Mother House in Calcutta

1998 • The Vatican waives the 5 year waiting period for sainthood

2002 • The Catholic Church recognizes the first miracle attributed to Teresa – the cure of a tumor in Monica Besra

2003 • Teresa is beatified with 250, 000 people in attendance in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome

information • Mother Teresa at 100, The Life and Works of a Modern Saint, Special Commemorative Edition