Mother Teresa
The Saint Who Conquered Darkness.
“We think sometimes poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start at home to remedy this kind of poverty.”
Background
Mother Teresa (Aug. 26, 1910-Sept. 5, 1997) was a Catholic nun whose love and service to the poorest of the poor has inspired countless people. Most of her life was spent in Calcutta, India, where she established the Missionaries of Charity which grew and spread throughout the world. Her mission was to care for “the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.”
By 1996, the Missionaries of Charity operated 517 missions in over 100 countries. The number of sisters in the Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands, serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centers worldwide.
Mother Teresa was canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis on September 4, 2016. Her feast day is September 5, the anniversary of her passing.
Visit to Jenkins
In 1982, Mother Teresa visited Jenkins, Kentucky to commemorate the establishment of the first rural order of the Missionaries of Charity in America. She attended mass at St. George Catholic Church.
She established a home for battered women and a convent on Cove Road, and although the shelter is no longer in service, the convent is still there, operated by four Missionaries of Charity sisters, who carry on her legacy to this day.
Below are photos from her visit to Jenkins in 1982.
