Mother Teresa

At 18, Agnes Bojaxhiu joined a religious order and left her native Albania. After a very short time, she was sent to India. Professing her permanent vows in 1937, she took the name Teresa. Becoming acutely aware of the poverty and suffering around her, Teresa permanently left the shelter of the convent walls to serve "the least of Jesus' bothers and sisters." Founder of the Missionaries of Charity, she is known the world over as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and we celebrate her canonization on September 4.