Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born on August 26, 1910, in Skopje to an Albanian Catholic family. At eighteen she joined the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland and was sent to India, where she taught for many years at a school in Calcutta. On September 10, 1946, traveling by train to Darjeeling, she experienced what she called a "call within a call" to serve Christ among the poorest.

In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity, whose sisters care for the dying, abandoned children, lepers and the homeless. In 1952 she opened Nirmal Hriday, a home where the dying could die with dignity. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Her letters later revealed that she lived decades of spiritual darkness while remaining faithful. She died on September 5, 1997, and Pope Francis canonized her on September 4, 2016.

Her feast is celebrated with Masses and works of charity; Missionaries of Charity communities around the world, including in many Latin American cities and in the United States, open their doors to volunteers and to the poor they serve.

Many parishes use her day to collect food or visit nursing homes, following her example of serving Christ in the person in front of us.