2010 Gambia Mother Teresa

Inspirational Mother Teresa Stamps

This mint stamp sheet commemorates the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth.

Mother Teresa took her religious vows in 1937 and was sent to Calcutta. The sick and dying living on the city streets saddened her. Without funding, she started a school for the poor in the streets of...  more

Inspirational Mother Teresa Stamps

This mint stamp sheet commemorates the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa’s birth.

Mother Teresa took her religious vows in 1937 and was sent to Calcutta. The sick and dying living on the city streets saddened her. Without funding, she started a school for the poor in the streets of Calcutta. A ministry among the sick, known as “Missionaries of Charity”, followed it. In 1952, she opened the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta. 

Her Society of Missionaries spread all over the world. Today, they provide for the poor in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the former Soviet Union. The order also has missions in North America, Europe, and Australia for shut-ins, homeless, and AIDS patients. By the 1990s, over one million missionaries worked in more than 40 countries. Mother Teresa was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

Hers was a life dedicated to sacrifice and service, to the healing and comfort of those who were sick, needy, and dying – the “poorest of the poor.” For nearly 50 years, the tiny Catholic nun from Albania lived among the most desperate inhabitants of Calcutta. Her work was an inspiration to millions and earned her worldwide admiration. But such a life was not free of cost, and the famous smile masked her great inner turmoil.

Small of stature yet large in spirit, the smiling woman had convinced her superiors to let her live in India’s poorest neighborhoods. It was that supreme dedication which enabled Mother Teresa to serve with love and compassion for decades.