e the convent and help the poor whilst living among them. It was an order.” She seeks Rome’s permission to start her own order in the slums, but is denied. However, serving the poor became a categorical imperative and she could not be deterred. Undaunted and without help from the church she begins her ministry in the slums. In the early work of her missionary she and a dozen or so disciples roam the harsh streets of Calcutta to seek out and help the miserable. They themselves lived in poverty, begging for their own support, including their daily meals. It was a very rough period for Teresa. Despite many instances of humiliation and hardship, which often drove her to tears, she pressed on.Finally, after two years Rome finally embraced Teresa’s efforts and formally established the Missionaries of charity in 1950. Through Teresa’s objective the church commanded all members of the order to “unremittingly seek out the poor, abandoned, sick, infirmed, and dying.”Two years before in 1948, Teresa performed her first act of comfort for the dying. She came across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta hospital. She stayed with the woman, holding her in her arms and praying for her until she died. 3 This first encounter inspired her open the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta. She and her fellow nuns took in Indians, who often died alone, off the streets of Calcutta and brought them to this home to care for them during the days before they died. Mother Teresa wanted to allow them to die in peace and with dignity. Her work expands when the Shishu Bhavan is opened. It is a plain two-storied building in Calcutta. The building houses several of the Mission’s other diverse activities including the home for children, a soup kitchen clinic, dispensary, and a shelter for mothers pregnant with unwanted children. The work brings her great happiness and fulfillment. Even more, a...
