Today marks Mother Teresa's 111th birth anniversary. The United Nations (UN) has paid a glowing tribute to Mother Teresa by releasing a definitive postage stamp on August 12, to mark her birth anniversary. India's Permanent Representative to the UN and President of UN Security Council for August, TS Tirumurti, tweeted photos of the stamp on Wednesday.
The stamp has an image of the Nobel laureate and Bharat Ratna. It also has one of her most famous messages. It reads, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Honoured by Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta, she was known for her selfless love for the poor and work to help them. She was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia, she dedicated her life to God when she was only 12. In 1928, she moved to Ireland and a year later, to India.
She arrived in Calcutta and began teaching at St Mary's School for girls. According to the Mother Teresa of Calcutta centre, she left the teaching job and began working with the poor in 1948. She received a part of her basic medical training in Patna and later established the Missionaries of Charity, which served many poor and destitute, including leprosy, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS patients.
She won multiple awards and honours for her work, including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962, Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and the Bharat Ratna in 1980. Awarding the prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, “In Mother Teresa's case, this basic philosophy of life is firmly rooted in her Christian faith.”
On September 5, 1997, she died and was accorded a state funeral by the Indian government for her service to the poor, irrespective of caste and creed. Despite some controversies, Mother Teresa was admired globally for her charitable work.
On September 4, 2016, Mother Teresa was elevated to sainthood by Pope Francis at a ceremony at the Vatican.
