Who Was Mother Teresa?

Get to Know the Saint Behind Our New Bracelet

You probably recognize her.

The white sari with the blue stripes. The small, weathered face. The woman who spent her life caring for the poorest of the poor.

But who was Mother Teresa, really?

Mother Teresa—also known as St. Teresa of Calcutta—was a Catholic nun, missionary, and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. She dedicated her life to serving the sick, dying, abandoned, and poorest people in Calcutta, India, and eventually throughout the world.

Today, she's one of the most recognizable Catholic saints of modern times.

But behind the famous photographs was a woman with an incredible story of faith—one that included a life-changing call from Jesus, years of spiritual darkness, a deep love for Mary, and a simple belief that each of us can do something beautiful for God.

So, as we welcome Mother Teresa to our Saintly Stacks collection, I wanted to share a little more about the woman—and the saint—behind our newest Catholic bracelet.

Who Was Mother Teresa?

Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in what is now North Macedonia.

Her family was Albanian and Catholic, and faith and generosity were an important part of her childhood.

By the time she was 18, she had decided to dedicate her life to God as a missionary. She left her family to join the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland before traveling to India.

There, she became Sister Teresa, taking her religious name after St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the Little Flower.

She spent years teaching at a Catholic girls' school in Calcutta and eventually became its headmistress.

But God wasn't finished calling her.

Mother Teresa's “Call Within a Call”

On September 10, 1946, Mother Teresa was traveling by train from Calcutta to Darjeeling for her annual retreat when she experienced something that would completely change the direction of her life.

She later described it as her “call within a call.”

Mother Teresa became convinced that Jesus was asking her to leave the relative comfort of the convent and serve Him among the poorest of the poor.

The words Jesus spoke from the Cross—“I thirst”—became central to her mission.

She understood Christ's thirst as more than physical thirst. It represented His thirst for souls and His desire for every person to know His love.

Eventually, after receiving permission from the Church, Mother Teresa left the Loreto convent and stepped into the streets of Calcutta.

She traded her traditional religious habit for the simple white sari with blue stripes that would become recognized around the world.

And she began caring for people others often ignored:

The sick.

The dying.

The abandoned.

The orphaned.

The forgotten.

Why Did Mother Teresa Help the Poor?

Mother Teresa didn't simply see her work as humanitarian service.

She saw Jesus in the people she served.

She believed that when she cared for someone who was hungry, sick, lonely, or dying, she was caring for Christ Himself.

It was the Gospel of Matthew lived out in a radical way:

“Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
— Matthew 25:40

In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic religious congregation dedicated to serving the “poorest of the poor.”

What began with one woman in Calcutta eventually spread around the world.

But here's something I love about Mother Teresa:

She never believed everyone needed to move to Calcutta to make a difference.

Her message was much simpler.

Start where you are.

Love the person in front of you.

Do the small thing God is asking of you today.

Mother Teresa's Devotion to Mary

One detail I especially love about Mother Teresa is her devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Mother Teresa prayed the Rosary faithfully and encouraged the Missionaries of Charity to turn to Mary as they followed Jesus.

And, of course, the white sari with its distinctive blue stripes became inseparable from Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity.

That Marian connection became part of the inspiration behind our new Mother Teresa bracelet collection, including our Marian Blue bracelet.

Because Mother Teresa's life reminds us of something Mary showed us first:

Sometimes holiness begins with a simple yes.

Mother Teresa and St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Here's another connection you may not know.

Mother Teresa took her religious name in honor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

And when you look at their lives, it's easy to see a beautiful connection between the two saints.

St. Thérèse taught us her “Little Way”—loving God through the small, ordinary things of everyday life.

Mother Teresa carried that same spirit into the streets of Calcutta.

Her life reminds us that we don't all have to accomplish enormous things to become saints.

We can love God through the ordinary things right in front of us.

In our kitchens.

Our carpools.

Our workplaces.

Our marriages.

Our friendships.

Our ordinary, everyday lives.

Mother Teresa Experienced Spiritual Darkness

This may be one of the most surprising facts about Mother Teresa.

When we look at her life from the outside, we might imagine that someone so holy must have constantly felt God's presence.

But after her death, private letters written to her spiritual directors revealed that Mother Teresa experienced long periods of profound interior spiritual darkness.

She often did not feel God's closeness.

And yet...

she kept going.

She kept praying.

She kept serving.

She kept loving.

Her faith wasn't dependent on whether she felt close to God that day.

She chose Him anyway.

And I think that's one of the most powerful parts of Mother Teresa's story—especially for those seasons when our own faith feels dry, difficult, or uncertain.

When Did Mother Teresa Become a Saint?

Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87.

She was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2003.

Then, on September 4, 2016, Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa, officially declaring her St. Teresa of Calcutta.

Her feast day is celebrated each year on September 5, the anniversary of her death.

But perhaps her greatest legacy isn't simply the incredible work she accomplished during her lifetime.

It's the invitation she left for the rest of us.

We may never serve the dying on the streets of Calcutta.

We may never found a religious order.

We may never do anything the world considers extraordinary.

But we can love the person God puts in front of us.

We can make the meal.

Call the friend.

Forgive someone.

Put down the phone and listen.

Help the neighbor.

Be patient with our children.

Offer the small sacrifice no one else sees.

We can do something beautiful for God right where we are.

The Meaning Behind Our Mother Teresa Catholic Bracelet

That's the reminder I wanted our newest Saintly Stack to carry.

Our Mother Teresa Bracelet was designed as a small, wearable reminder to look for opportunities to love throughout your ordinary day.

Not because wearing a Catholic bracelet makes us holy.

But because sometimes we need reminders.

A reminder to notice the person in front of us.

A reminder that small acts of love matter.

A reminder that we don't have to change the whole world today.

We can simply begin with the little corner of the world God has given us.

And maybe, when you glance down at your wrist, you'll remember Mother Teresa's invitation:

Do something beautiful for God.