The
Missionaries of Charity was Mother Teresa's
new order, formed in 1950. Among their vows is the promise
'to give wholehearted and free service to the poorest of the
poor'. This vow was put into action with the setting up of
several homes including Nirmal Hriday (the
home for the dying), Shanti Nagar (for lepers)
and Nirmala Shishu Bhavan (the children's
home). There are now homes in many other places, staffed not
only by nuns but also by volunteers of co-workers.
For all her saintliness, Mother Teresa is not without her
critics. Germaine Greer, for example, has accused her of being
a religious imperialist, although anyone who has spent some
time with the nuns and seen them at work could hardly call
them Bible-bashing evangelists. Mother Teresa
herself has said that hers is contemplative work. Her inspiration
is spiritual and Christian but it is put into practice mainly
by ministering to physical needs. In 1979 her work achieved
world recognition when she was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
Old age finally slowed Mother Teresa down,
and with three major operations in the last five years, worldwide
attention kept track of her heartbeat almost as keenly as
her pacemaker did. in early 1997, Mother Teresa resigned her
position at the Missionaries due to bad health, and was replaced
by Sister Nirmala.
The
87-year old Nobel laureate died of severe cardiac arrest at
the Missionaries of Charity headquarters
on September 5, 1997 at 21.30 hours. With the death of "Saint
of Gutters", the light has gone out of the lives
of the poor and the downtrodden.
Mother
herself had no personal property or savings. But her real
wealth was the millions of destitute orphaned and abandoned
sufferers around the world.
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