St. Teresa of Calcutta

St. Teresa of Calcutta was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 into an Albanian family at Skopje (in modern North Macedonia), and died on 5 September 1997 at Calcutta, India. At eighteen she left home to join the Sisters of Loreto and was sent to India, where for years she taught in a school in Calcutta. In 1946 she received what she called 'a call within a call' — to leave the convent and serve the poorest of the poor while living among them.

With the Church's permission she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, a community devoted to caring for the dying, the abandoned, lepers, and the destitute, seeing in each of them 'Christ in his distressing disguise.' The order spread across the world, and 'Mother Teresa' became known internationally as a living image of charity, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. After her death her private writings revealed that she had endured a long interior 'dark night,' serving in faith without felt consolation. She was canonized in 2016 by Pope Francis.