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Mother Teresa Facts & Worksheets

Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who traveled the world helping the sick, poor and dying as well as orphans. She was a nun for over 45 years, devoting her entire life to helping others.

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Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who traveled the world helping the sick, poor and dying as well as orphans. She was a nun for over 45 years, devoting her entire life to helping others.

See the fact file below for more information on the Mother Teresa or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Mother Teresa worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

PERSONAL AND EARLY LIFE

  • Mother Teresa’s real name was Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, which is Albanian. She was born on August 26, 1910, but prefers to remember the day she was baptized, which was August 27, as this date was more meaningful for her.
  • Her father died when she was 8, so she was raised by her mother.
  • She was born in the former Ottoman Empire, which is now known as the Republic of Macedonia.
  • She was raised in a very religious Roman Catholic household.
  • When she decided to become a nun at age 18, she moved to Ireland with the desire to become a teacher. This is where she stayed for a while before preparing to become a nun, and where she learned how to speak English.
  • Mother Teresa later moved to India where she could complete her novitiate period, which is a period when someone prepares to become a member of a religious institution.
  • In 1929, she moved to India, learned the Bengali language, and taught at a school in Darjeeling. Two years later, she took her vows as a nun. She hoped to end poverty and inequality for girls in India.
  • She chose the name Teresa in memory of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

LIFE’S WORK AND RECOGNITION

  • In 1948, Teresa became a citizen of India and spent months in a city in India receiving medical training to help sick people.
  • She founded a school in Motijheel where she could tend to the poor and hungry. Teresa did this because she felt a “call from God” to help the poor. She herself often went hungry trying to help these people and, even with the scale of the problem, she persisted.
  • By 1949, she was joined by many other women who were eager to help as well.
  • In 1950, Mother Teresa, along with 13 members, formed a group within the Catholic Church. This group was called “The Missionaries of Charity”, and it was recognized as a new congregation. She had to receive Vatican permission for this.
  • The purpose of the charity was to provide care for people who felt shunned from society, which was a big problem in India.
  • Through this initiative, Mother Teresa established an orphanage, family and mobile health clinics, a nursing home, a leper colony, and much more.
  • She helped “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” (washingtonpost.com: Highlights of Mother Teresa’s Life).
  • By 1997, the congregation had grown to over 4,000 sisters. They helped to manage the orphanages and refugee centers, as well as the various other initiatives.
  • In addition, the sisters helped people who suffered from AIDS, alcoholism, victims of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, as well as helping blind, deaf, disabled, and homeless people. Their aim was to help them and make them feel loved and cared for.
  • In 1952, she opened a hospice in India so that the poor and sick could receive the proper end of life care and die with dignity.
  • The Children’s Home of the Immaculate Heart was opened by Teresa in 1955.
  • It was a haven for orphans and homeless youth.
  • Growing in size, the congregation began to receive countless donations and recruits, and with the money, more hospices, orphanages, and houses for people with leprosy were opened.
  • In later years, Teresa expanded the congregation by opening houses in Venezuela, Italy, Tanzania, and Austria. By the 1970s, houses were opened in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
  • Mother Teresa continued her service in India, and by 1971, her work had become internationally known.
  • In addition, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. The money from the traditional banquet for this award was donated to the poor of India.
  • She was invited to speak at the United Nations in 1985 for their 40th Anniversary General Assembly. While there, she opened a home called “Gift of Love” to help people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
  • Teresa received the Jewel of India Award for her work, which is the highest honor someone can receive in India.

DEATH AND LEGACY

  • Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997. She worked almost up until her death.
  • After her death, the Holy See started the process of canonising her (becoming a saint) where it had to be proven that she was heroic.
  • To become a saint means that three miracles have to be documented. For Mother Teresa, the Vatican recognised two miracles: the healing of a woman’s abdomen tumour, and the second was when a Brazilian man who had a severe bacterial infection slipped into a coma. When he was taken into surgery he miraculously woke up.
  • Mother Teresa has become the patron of many churches and her life is commemorated in museums, building and road names and even an international airport in Albania.
  • In 2009, the Memorial House of Mother Teresa was opened in her hometown of Skopje, Macedonia and Mother Teresa Day on 19 October is a holiday in Albania.
  • In 2012, Mother Teresa was ranked number five of the Greatest Indians by a poll conducted by Outlook India.

Mother Teresa Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Mother Teresa across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Mother Teresa worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Mother Teresa who was a Catholic nun who traveled the world helping the sick, poor and dying as well as orphans. She was a nun for over 45 years, devoting her entire life to helping others.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Mother Teresa Facts
  • Gratitude Poster
  • Fill in the Blanks
  • Mother Teresa Word Search
  • Charity Challenge
  • Mother Teresa Acrostic
  • Mother Teresa Crossword
  • Three Things Activity
  • Community Saint
  • Letter to Mother Teresa
  • Coloring Mother Teresa

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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