Leaving the Order for a bigger Order

Initially she was sent to Loreta Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland to learn English since that was the language that was taught to school children in India. It was her intention, and that of the Order, than this novice known later as Mother Teresa would return to India and that she would be a teacher of children. And that happened. But it did not happen for long!

Although she enjoyed teaching, she became more and more disturbed by the poverty that was all around her in Calcutta. She could not sit inside a building, with some amenities, and go outside into the real world and witness the pain and suffering of those without food, shelter, medicine and any kind of hope for something better. She kept saying to herself and to anyone who would listen, "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person". And she took her own advice and reached out her own hand, first, to help another.

In 1950 she founded the Missions of Charity in Calcutta, India. She said she received "a call within a call" and made up her mind that she must leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. She took off her habit and replaced it with a white cotton sari with a blue border. It was not an easy task. She had not expected an easy task but she had no idea how difficult it would be to find daily provisions. Gradually others saw and responded to the need.

In 1952 she opened the first Home for the Dying saying, "A beautiful death is for people who lived like animals to die like angels -- loved and wanted."

Her hands were never idle; her heart was never unconcerned. Every moment made a difference to someone out there in desperate trouble.