Today is the International Day of Charity, observed in honor of Mother Teresa, aiming at awareness raising and provide for charity related activities all over the world.

 September 5th was chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 “for the work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and suffering, which also constitute a threat for peace.

The Albanian missionary Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was born in Skopje in 1910. In 1928 she went to India, where she devoted herself to helping the poor. In 1948 she became an Indian citizen and founded the order of Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1950, gaining fame for her work among the poor and dying in that city.

For more than 45 years she ministered to the poor, the sick, the orphaned and the dying, while leading the expansion of the Missionaries of Charity, first in India and then in other countries, including hospices and homes for the poor and the homeless.

Mother Teresa’s work has been recognized and appreciated worldwide and she has received a number of awards and accolades, including the Nobel Peace Prize. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87.

/k.s/